A major figure in the avant-garde art worlds of 1950s Rome and New York, Salvatore Scarpitta produced a diverse body of work that includes three-dimensional wrapped or “bandaged” canvases and functioning racing cars that were used on a track in Pennsylvania. Scarpitta’s cars delved into recurring themes in his work: life, death, rebirth, and movement. He counted Norman Bluhm, Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston, Frederick Kiesler, and David Smith among his cohort. His influence can be seen in the work of Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, Matthew Barney, Martin Puryear, and Nancy Rubins.