Two Figures suggests a living cityscape, with architectonic forms of buildings merged with organic figures that reach intoclouds. Sabatini went to Paris in the 1920s when art deco was at its height and, like other artists he encountered there, builton the example of cubism, with its fragmented forms and uncertain space. In this painting, he softens its edges and makes it elegant and refined, expressing an optimism about the modern age.
Born in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania, Sabatini studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He went on to become a leading figure in the art deco movement in the United States, making the architectural sculpture for N. W. Ayer Building on Washington Square. He taught at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art for three decades and was president of the Philadelphia Art Alliance on Rittenhouse Square. In the early 1950s, Sabbatini hosted a weekday television show in Philadelphia called Art Is Easy.
