Provenzano, Sam – Untitled

Sam Provenzano was born in 1923 in the small Pennsylvania town of Luciusboro. During World War II, he served in the Air Force in the Pacific, and upon his return, earned a BFA (cum laude) from Syracuse University on the GI Bill. He went on to do post-graduate studies in art in Florence, Paris, Mexico City, and with New York painter Hans Hoffmann at his Provincetown school. In 1951 Provenzano moved to San Francisco and taught art to children for nine years at San Francisco’s Town School for Boys. He later became a much-respected teacher of art to adult students in his South of Market studio. Provenzano identified deeply with his Sicilian roots and loved San Francisco’s North Beach for its strong sense of Italian culture as well as its creative ambience.He received the most critical recognition for his abstract expressionist canvases, beginning with early work as a protégé of Hoffmann and continuing through the 1980s with his “Wedge Series.” He captured the imagination of San Franciscans most, perhaps, with his whimsical sketches of scenes from the City like #30 Stockton Street Bus, North Beach and SoMa. Provenzano died in San Francisco at the age of 75. His works can be found in the collections of SF MOMA, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and the Oakland Museum.