Oronzo Vito Gasparo

Oronzo Vito Gasparo
Oronzo Vito Gasparo and son, c. 1920.
Born1903
Died1969 (aged 66)
New York City, New York, United States
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materNational Academy of Design
OccupationArtist

Oronzo Vito Gasparo (1903–1969), was an American artist often known for surreal townscape painting, design, and crafts.

Background

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Oronzo Vito Gasparo was born in Rutigliano, Bari, Italy in 1903, one of seventeen children. His parents were Italian and Hindu.[1] He spent many active years in California, and died in New York City in 1969.

Gasparo studied at the National Academy of Design in New York; he was mentored by Preston Dickinson[2] and was Dickinson's favorite pupil.

Early years

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Oronzo Vito Gasparo worked under the Works Progress Administration Easel Project during the Great Depression.[3]

A number of Gasparo's works were acquired by Onya La Tour, who was an avid collector and enthusiast of modern art in New York in the 1930s, and who directed the Federal Art Gallery of the Federal Arts Project of the Work Projects Administration, 225 W 57th St, New York NY.[4]

Work

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During his lifetime he had over 40 one-man shows ranging from 1928 to a retrospective in 1974. Many examples of his paintings can be seen at WikiArt.Org.

Methods

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  1. Designer
  2. Painting

Mediums

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  1. Gouache
  2. Mixed-Media/Multi-Media
  3. Oil
  4. Watercolor

Styles

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  1. Surrealism

Subjects

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  1. Architecture/Buildings
  2. Figure
  3. Genre (Human Activity)
  4. Spanish Missions
  5. Townscape

Exhibitions

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  1. Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Carnegie Institute
  3. Corcoran Gallery
  4. Museum of Modern Art, New York
  5. Pennsylvania Academy
  6. Salons of America
  7. Society of Independent Artists
  8. Whitney Museum of American Art

Trivia

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  • Gasparo was an avid dancer and claimed to have brought the rumba to New York.[5]

References

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Books

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Year Author Title
2005 Davenport, Ray Davenport's Art Reference, The Gold Edition
2005 AskART.com Inc./Dunbier, Lonnie Pierson (Editor) The Artists Bluebook, 34,000 North American Artists to March 2005
2002 Hughes, Edan Milton Artists in California: 1786-1940, Two Volumes
1999 Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor) Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975, 3 Volumes
1990 Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor) The Annual Exhibition Record of the Art Institute of Chicago
1989 Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor) Annual Exhibition Record, 1914–68, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
1988 Geske, Norman/Karen Janovy The American Painting Collection, The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery
1985 Falk, Peter Hastings Who Was Who in American Art, Artists Active 1898-1947
1984 Marlor, Clark S The Society of Independent Artists, Exhibition Record 1917-1944
1977 Barr, Alfred H Painting and Sculpture, in the Museum of Modern Art
1975 Editor, Smithsonian Smithsonian Archives of American Art: Checklist of the Collection
1966 Editors Who's Who in American Art-1966
1948 Mallett, Daniel Trowbridge Index of Artists International Biographical, 2 Volumes
1947 Editors Who's Who in American Art-1947
1936 Museum of Modern Art New Horizons in American Art, Federal Art Project exhibition

Museums

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Article

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Notes

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  1. ^ Onya La Tour Objects Study Materials (Report). Indianapolis Museum of Art. October 12, 2014. A 22-page handout researched by Museum staff, including Anastasia Karpova Tinari and Sue Morreale, and provided by the Museum to accompany the exhibit The Onya La Tour Collection: Modernism in Indiana, organized by Tinari. The first two pages are a biography. Pages 3-22 describe paintings in the exhibit, and the artists who painted them.
  2. ^ "Preston Dickinson". Artcyclopedia. Retrieved 29 March 2017.[1]
  3. ^ "Oronzo Vito Gasparo". Peyton Wright Gallery. Retrieved 29 March 2017.http://peytonwright.com/modern/artists/oronzo-gasparo/
  4. ^ Norling, Samantha. "Onya La Tour Papers, 1925-1978" (PDF). discovernewfields.org. Indianapolis Museum of Art Archives. Retrieved October 14, 2018. Extent: 13.8 linear feet. Includes a two-page biographical note.
  5. ^ "Oronzo Vito Gasparo". Peyton Wright Gallery. Retrieved 29 March 2017.[2]