Richard Henry Recchia was born in Quincy, Massachusetts on November 20th 1885 to Frank and Rosa Louisa Recchia. Frank Recchia was a marble carver and, in the European tradition, instructed little "Ricardo" in his craft. Richard, who was the oldest of five children, took to sculpture and attended the Boston Museum School of Fine Art from 1904 to 1907. While attending school he helped out in Bela Lyon Pratt's studio and, after graduating in 1907, continued to work for him until 1912.
Bela Lyon Pratt and Daniel Chester French, who were his major mentors dring this time, both encouraged Recchia to go to Europe. They provided him with financial aid for the trip though they had decidedly different opinions about where he should go. While French reminded him that he needed "the influence of Paris much more than that of Rome", Pratt stated that he should spend a lot of time in Rome. It appears that Recchia followed French's advice more than Pratt's.
In 1915, while living in Paris, Richard married Anita "Ana" Diaz, a young woman who was originally from Chile. They had two children, Richard E. in 1914 and Phyllis Anita "Felicia" in 1917. According to Richard Recchia's oral history recording, Ana died in 1926, though his recollection seems to be at odds with other records.
In 1926 he moved to Rockport and in 1927 he married his second wife, Mary Catherine Parsons, known as "Kitty". She had been born in Stratford, Connecticut in 1889 but the family had moved to Rockport, Massachusetts where the couple would spend the rest of their days. Kitty was a watercolor artist and poet and very active in the Rockport Art Association, of which she was a founding member. She died in July 1975.
His works include the Statue of John Stark (1948), Head of a boy, and Young Pan playing a flute (1956).
Richard survived both his wife Kitty and his two children and died in Rockport, Massachusetts in 1983. He carved his own tombstone and is buried under it at the Beech Grove Cemetery in Rockport.
Please contact me if you are a descendant of or have additional information on Richard Recchia.
