Ralph Malatesta Flies to Vanishing Point

Ralph Malatesta, faculty member at The Art Institute of Philadelphia from the school's inception in 1971, passed away on Tuesday morning, July 17, 2001. This page is dedicated to his memory.

On Tuesday morning, July 17, Ralph Malatesta flew to the vanishing point.

He flew bombers in the Second World War, B-25s or B-26s—Mitchells or Marauders, I can't recall now, even though I listened carefully, having found someone who had lived one of my adolescent fantasies. And he knew perspective. No one knew perspective like Ralph. Some of us thought he learned it from the Renaissance masters themselves.

Fooling around in the workspace once, someone kidded him, asking where the vanishing point was.

Over there," he said, "on the horizon line."

And that's where he is now.

If you don't know anything about perspective, the vanishing point lies on the horizon line. It's the place where everything comes together: all the streets and roads, all the railroad tracks and telephone poles and fence posts that seem to go on into the distance, forever; all of them come together at the vanishing point on the horizon line. It's easy to see, just by looking off into the distance, except when we try to go there we never can quite seem to find it, like the end of the rainbow.

But Ralph found it at last. I don't know if he was really looking for it, but flying around among the lines and planes and various diagonals that make up perspective I suppose he was bound to reach it eventually. We didn't expect him to get there quite so soon, or so suddenly, but he's there. If you're looking for him, he's touched down out there on the horizon line, at the intersection of those roads and tracks and phone poles. He's not very far away. He's on the vanishing point.

J. Pastelak

The Leaving of Stacey Sauchuk as President of The Art Institute of Philadelphia

This is a lament for an AiPH President.
She set a new record for longevity,
And we all spoke well of her brevity.
She pulled together all factions
By the tone of her personal actions.
Stacey Sauchuk is her name,
As we gather here in her fame.
She is a great rooter of AiPH,
But she doesn't give a hooter
For records or precedents.

Aside from that "pun in fun,"
Or "joke in jest,"
We all know that Bob Gioella Is looking for the "best."
For a leader, who could never be neater
Than Stacey Sauchuk, who is a great rooter,
But doesn't give a hooter
For records or precedents.

In case the search is too taxing,
We can always have Stacey faxing
Herself back to us, when needed,
To quell the spell of a new president
Before I am finished I shall not diminish
Our leader, the neater
Stacey Sauchuk, great rooter of AiPH
I'll use a title from a Noel Coward play
To describe our feelings
On this her final day.
Quote: "The Pleasure of Her Company"
Unquote.

R. M. Malatesta July, 2000 ©

from the time i statred with aiph ralph has always been an encouraging voice...he continually demonstrated his strong belief in our students and the work we do here...ralph on numerous occassions would stop me to mention a student that was having difficulty....ralph's keen sense of humanity has left a lasting impression on aiph and on me.

f. prillerman

The man in the painting is Ralph Malatesta, a colleague at the Art Institute of Philadelphia, fellow artist, WW2 pilot and a man of dignity, grace and wry humor. The word "gentleman" was invented specifically for Ralph. He was kind enough to pose for this piece. The painting, in my mind is about a generation. The camera on the desk, is a "Brownie" that I stood in front of many times as a child. My mother peered down into the viewfinder to record my first little league game, my first trout, and a 1952 Oldsmobile. It is nostalgic I suppose- but without apology. The view is from the 8th floor of the Art Institute building in Philadelphia. [Fred's commentary about the painting]

Ralph is a very special human. A gentle "gentleman" in every way. An artist whose talent was so special he wanted to share it with his students. As an instructor he was one of the best. We shall all miss him, but he will live on with us.

Sophia Chitjian