James R. Avati of Redbank, New Jersey, and Salt Lake City, is an excellent and sensitive sculptor who studied at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, at the Arts Students League in New York City, at Ricks College in Idaho, and at Brigham Young University. He was also a graduate student in the Department of Art at the University of Utah where he earned his M.F.A. in 1988. While there he worked with Angelo Caravaglia in the development of his frequently powerful art.

Avati won major commissions to create three life-size figures for an education monument in Mesa, Arizona; a life-size General Patrick Edward Connor for Fort Douglas , Utah; two life-size figures for the Utah Valley Community College in Orem; one life-size figure for the Sandy, Utah Courthouse; another life-size figure for Hill Air Force Base in the Ogden area; and a 7-foot 4-inch Philo T. Farnsworth for the U.S. Capitol Building.

Biography courtesy Artists of Utah

No additional biography.

Newspaper Articles

"72nd Utah Spring Salon: Springville Art Exhibition Includes A Dazzling Array of First-Rate Utah Creativity." The Deseret News, April 28, 1996. 
"Destination: Statury Hall." The Deseret News, April 24, 1990. 
"Farnsworth Statue in D.C." The Deseret News, May 1, 1990. 
"Statue of Utah TV Inventor Finally Making Headway - in Bronze." The Deseret News, March 20, 1990. 
"Rotunda Ceremony Affords Utah Inventor a Spot of Honor in D.C." The Deseret News, May 2, 1990.

Books

Avati, James Richard. "Exploring Realism in Sculptural Form." Master's Thesis, Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah, 1990.

Davenport, Ray. Davenport 's Art Reference and Price Guide. Marcheline, MI: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 2001.

Dunbier, Lonnie, ed. The Artists Bluebook: Ask Art. Scottsdale, AZ: Ask Art.com, 2003.

Endore, S. Guy, and James Avati. King of Paris. New York, NY: Pocket Books, 1958.

Falk, Peter Hastings. Dictionary of Signatures & Monogram. Madison, CT, 1988.

Gilbert, Anne. The official identification and price guide to American illustrator art. New York, NY: House of Collectibles, 1991.

Reed, Walt. The Illustrator in America 1860-2000. New York, NY: Society of Illustrators, 2001.

Kugelberg, Johan. Avati, The King of the Paperbacks: an Exhibit of Original Cover Art From the Golden Age of Paperbacks 1948 to 1958. New York, NY: Antiquarian Book Arcade, 1998.

Olpin, Robert S., William C. Seifrit, and Vern G. Swanson. Artists of Utah. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1999.

Reed, Walt and Roger Reed. The Illustrator in America 1880-1980 A Century of Illustration. New York, NY: Published for the Society of Illustrators by Madison Square Press, Distributed by R. Silver Associates, 1984.

Swanson, Vern G., Robert S. Olpin, Donna Poulton and Janie L. Rogers. 150 Year Survey Utah Art & Artists. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2002.

Wakeman, Frederic & Avati, James. Deluxe Tour. New York, NY: Pocket Books, 1957.