THE TOWN - Italian American Museum

PAINTING UP
THE TOWN
The Art of Armondo Dellasanta and John Gambino
July 19 through September 22, 2006
Curator: Maria Cocchiarelli
www.italianamericanmuseum.org

Board of Trustees
Joseph V. Scelsa, Ed.D., President
Philip F. Foglia, Executive Vice President
Cav. Maria T. Fosco, Secretary and Treasurer
Massimo DiFabio, Vice President
Eugene M. Limongelli, Vice President
Ralph A. Tedesco, MFA, Vice President
Robert Ciofalo, Trustee Emeritus
Curator of Collections
Maria Cocchiarelli, MFA
Generous Funding for the Exhibitions and
Programs Have Been Provided by
Patron: The Columbus Citizens Foundation, Inc.
This Exhibition is also made possible (in part)
by the New York City Council; City of New York
Department of Cultural Affairs; Tiro A Segno
Foundation; UNICO National Foundation;
Coalition of Italian American Associations, Inc.;
National Italian American Foundation; Queens
College, The City University of New York;
John D. Calandra Italian American Institute;
Lawrence E. Auriana; Federated Kaufmann
Fund; New York State Governor George E.
Pataki; New York State Senator Serphin
R. Maltese; New York State Assemblyman
Anthony Seminerio; Joseph J. Grano, Jr.; Louis
J. Cappelli; Richard A. Grace; Alitalia; Paul
David Pope; Katherine & Vincent Bonomo;
Ilaria, Susy and Vincenzo Marra; Mr. & Mrs.
Vincent Morano; Donovan & Giannuzzi; The
Frank J. Guarini Foundation; Mr. & Mrs. Matt
Sabatine; Baronessa Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimò;
Excavators Union, Local 731; Louis Tallarini;
Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Foundation; Alfred
Catalanotto; Queens Council of the Arts; Jolly
Madison Hotel and Towers; Ferrara Pasticceria,
Bakery & Cafe

PAINTING UP
THE TOWN
July 19 through September 22, 2006
Italian American Museum
28 West 44th Street
New York NY, 10036
Tel. 212.642.2020
www.italianamericanmuseum.org
C U R A T E D B Y M A R I A C O C C H I A R E L L I
Essays
Memory Impressions the Armondo Dellasanta Way by Maria Cocchiarelli..........3
Convesations with Armondo Dellasanta by Louise K. Burke ...............................5
Armondo Dellasanta by Carol Gordon Wood ........................................................11
A Touch of Green in the Sun by Maria Cocchiarelli..............................................17
John Gambino’s Little Jewel Paintings by Steve Kennedy..................................21
Printed in the United States of America.
Published by the Italian American Museum
Curatorial Assistant: Elizabeth Masella
Graphic Designer: Michael Esguerra
Exhibition Installer: Barry W. Schrager
Printer: Leo Callahan Printing, 1000 copies.
© 2006 by the Italian American Museum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored or transmitted in any form without the prior permission, in writing, of the Italian American Museum.

2
Upper East Side, circa 1960, oil on board, 20 x 24 in.
Collection of the Artist. Signed A. Dellasanta, LL

Memory Impressions
the Armondo Dellasanta Way
by Maria Cocchiarelli
Armondo Dellasanta records memories of places that have meaning to him.
Relentlessly searching for his truth as a painter, he began by taking snap shots of
places he found visually appealing. Dellasanta is not a plein air painter who usually
observes a subject be it a cityscape or landscape in its natural setting. While the plein
air artist’s purpose is to record changing light and atmospheric perspective, Dellasanta’s
interests are internal. Using his photographs as a starting point, he begins to recreate
the scene as he remembers it. Layering with a palette knife an impasto of expressionistic
color, Dellasanta revives the philosophy of Robert Henri (1865-1929) a great painter and
theoretician who infl uenced generations of artists. Inspired by European master realists:
Manet, Hals, and Goya, he helped to defi ne a truly American Art. Henri celebrated the
everyday world in his paintings and writings due to his dissatisfaction with the prevailing
Academic art system that codifi ed what was acceptable subject matter. Alleys and street
scenes were not even close to what would be permitted in one’s paintings during that
time. A group of artists who were extremely moved by Henri is known as the Ashcan
School or the Eight. These American artists besides Henri include John Sloan, George
Luks, William Glackens, Everett Shinn, Ernest Lawson, Maurice Prendergast and Arthur
B. Davies. They shared Henri’s interest in “memory impressions” of the world.
Dellasanta’s memory impressions are unique in that the Ashcan School and followers
of Henri were intent on limiting their palette as a change from the highly modulated one
of the French Impressionists. As an original, Dellasanta has embraced the use of a rich
palette that accentuates his expressionistic tendencies.
In the paintings on view at the Italian American Museum from July 19th through
September 22, 2006, views of neighborhoods, tourists’ attractions and everyday scenes
may be familiar to our audience. Perhaps not recognizable directly, but the scene may
express a feeling for a time gone by. Dellasanta, who is about to turn 90 this year, may be
painting at this very moment in his studio in Binghamton. His production of paintings
and dry point etchings disclose a glimpse into Dellasanta’s memories of places perhaps
now forgotten. Buses, street signs, and in some cases buildings have changed, and so
has that moment in time in New York City that signifi ed a simpler life, innocence and the
possibility of communication between total strangers.
My fi rst encounter with Dellasanta’s paintings inspired a visceral reaction. At once, I
felt this was the work of an original humanist painter who possessed a unique color sense
and admiration for the past. Utrillo came to mind when encountering “The Upper East
Side,” due to his similar portrayal of perspective that moves the viewer quickly into the
picture plane and may be considered not exactly precise. But it was “The Third Avenue El”
which evoked the memory of the graphic work of John Sloan. The depth of emotion that
3

Dellasanta is able to suggest within the viewer may have something to do with a lament for
an “El” train replaced by the subway or the simply written signage advertising a shave.
Much has been written about Armondo Dellasanta and many art exhibitions devoted to
his work. The public’s reaction has been positive. As a self-trained artist his understanding
of what makes a challenging composition is outstanding. His use of color is imaginative.
However, his paintings’ meaning extends beyond art for art’s sake or a studied formalism.
What Dellasanta facilitates is a response in
the viewer that cuts through thought. Our
feelings are touched, our memories revealed,
and a sense that life can be worth recording
no matter the circumstance is upheld. In a
way, illustrating what John Sloan said many
years ago, “I believe in humanism—the artist
as a spectator of life.”
“Times Square, circa 1960,” attracted
my interest immensely. As I grew up in
Brooklyn during that era, Sunday was family
day in Manhattan. My memories of:
visual chaos, and beauty, the contents of
vignettes of billboards, architecture, kinesthetic
glimpses of driving over the Brooklyn
Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge are
etched within my memory. From the moment
my family left our stoop in Brooklyn,
the sense of adventure and creative possibilities
began to unfold. The “Penny Arcade,”
Radio City Music Hall, the “Automat” (now
defunct), are all memories of a time forgotten
by most. Today these memories are
made concrete by a great Italian American
through the legacy of his work.
In “The Third Avenue El, circa 1941,”
(top) Third Avenue El, circa 1941,
oil on board, 12 x 15 in.
Collection of the Artist. Signed A. Dellasanta, LR
(bottom) Times Square, circa 1960,
oil on board, 20 x 24 in.
Collection of the Artist. Signed A. Dellasanta, LR
4
Dellasanta’s palette turns dark, perhaps
expressing a more serious side of the artist.
The barber shop sign with a clumsily
written 25 (cent) price tag again allows us
to reminisce and possibly crave for a time
when New York City was affordable for the
working class. Armondo Dellesanta’s work
pulls at our emotional center while fl exing
our thought processes. Presently, his work is being revisited through the efforts of Louise
K. Burke who has had the opportunity to help exhibit his work to a wider audience. For
this the Italian American Museum is very grateful. We would also like to thank Jane St.
Lifer for bringing this artist to our attention, and Carol Gordon Wood for her research and
art historical insight into this important artist.
Maria Cocchiarelli is the Curator of Collections at the Italian American Museum in New York City.
Most recently, she curated Antonio Petracca: Identity Theft (IAM 2006).

Conversations
with Armondo Dellasanta
by Louise K. Burke
Pennsylvania Station, circa 1941, oil on board, 12 x 15 in.
Collection of the Artist. Signed A. Dellasanta, LL
I fi rst met the artist in 1998. Since then, we have spent countless hours
together in his studio, on the road to and from New York City, visiting
museums and attending award ceremonies. Time with him always passes
quickly because of his keen memory, shared experiences and great sense of
humor. What follows are just a few excerpts from these conversations.
5

Armondo Dellasanta was born and spent his childhood only a few blocks from where he
lives today.
Dellasanta’s father left Pisaro, Italy, but before coming to America went to Germany
and France. His father had a brother in France, but none of his relatives decided to come
to the United States.
Dellasanta recalled that his father could do everything with his hands. His father did
metal work, cement work, carpentry and made his own wine. Dellasanta’s father had lots
of friends who came to the house to play cards, drink wine and smoke stogies. At the time,
immigrants populated the streets of his Binghamton neighborhood, each group having
their own grocery stores, bars and churches. There were lots of small shops. No one spoke
much English, but everyone got along. Dellasanta remembered, “It was just like the Lower
East Side.”
As a young boy, Dellasanta played street hockey using sticks and stones. He and his
friends called it Shinney. They were too poor to buy sports equipment. He made a few
pennies when Frank, the rag man came around to buy rags that he had collected from the
neighbors. The rag man had a wagon with a scale. Before making payment, Frank always
checked to see that the rags weren’t wet before weighing them. These memories may
inspire his street scenes, especially those of children at play, Skating, Central Park, which
are all fi lled with color, bustle and activity.
6
Skaters, Central Park, circa 1960, oil on board, 11 x 14 in.
Collection of the Artist. Signed A. Dellasanta, LL

Dellasanta’s street scenes are teeming with activity, shoppers, cars and buses. He likes
to put traffi c and pedestrians in his paintings. Dellasanta noted Reginald Marsh’s infl uence
concerning crowd scenes.
The World’s Fair of 1939 was the occasion for Dellasanta’s fi rst visit to New York City.
He was inspired and awe-struck. He remembered seeing the tall and statuesque Gypsy
Rose Lee. Also he bought his fi rst art books: A Treasury of Art Masterpieces, Modern
American Painting and A Treasury of American Prints, all published in 1939.
In 1940, Dellasanta joined the army infantry and was later shipped to Europe. He
landed at Cherbourg in September, 1944. During the war, he carried a small lined notebook
and did a few sketches of bombed out churches. His painting, French Countryside, circa
1944 shows trees stripped of their branches – due to the wartime restrictions that
prohibited cutting down trees in their entirety for fi rewood.
Dellasanta returned from the war on the luxury liner the Queen Elizabeth, then a
converted military ship. Luckily, he had not suffered any serious injuries, only being
hit by shrapnel. When the ship arrived in New York harbor, there was “a tremendous
greeting by boats with huge water sprays.” His scenes of the New York harbor, the East
River tugboats and the West side piers, Flandre, the Hudson River Pier, recall this joyous
homecoming.
Ever since, he has repeatedly visited New York City to photograph and sketch.
Flandre, Hudson River Pier, circa 1960, oil on board, 12 x 15 in.
Collection of the Artist. Signed A. Dellasanta, LR
7

Dellasanta would walk through the city,
downtown to the Staten Island Ferry,
then uptown, over to the west side, to
Macy’s, Herald Square, circa 1960, then
the East Side, the UN Plaza, the East River,
then back downtown. He was captivated
by bridges – The Brooklyn Bridge, The
Manhattan Bridge and also by tugboats.
He made many visits to the Fulton Fish
Market and created several paintings of
the area, Heading Towards the Fulton
Fish Market, circa 1960, and South Street
Seaport, circa 1960. Dellasanta especially
loved the antique lamp posts and put these
into many paintings.
Dellasanta’s Staten Island Ferry,
circa 1960 and Statue of Liberty, circa
1960 refl ect the inspiration of John Sloan’s
Ferry Boat Wake. Like Childe Hassam,
fl ags inspire Dellasanta. This can be seen
in his painting of The Cornell Club as well
as in many of his Fifth Avenue scenes.
Captivated by their unique architecture,
8

OPPOSITE PAGE
(top) Herald Square, circa 1960, oil on board,
12 x 16 in. Collection of the Artist.
Signed A. Dellasanta, LR
(middle) Heading Towards Fulton Fish Market,
circa 1960, oil on board, 12 x 16 in. Collection of
the Artist. Signed A. Dellasanta, LL
(bottom) Staten Island Ferry, circa 1960, oil on
board, 11 3/4 x 14 1/2 in. Collection of the Artist.
Signed A. Dellasanta, LR
THIS PAGE
(top left) South Street Seaport, circa 1960, oil
on board, 12 x 16 in. Collection of Mr. and Mrs.
Wendall Miller
(top right) Statue of Liberty, circa 1960, oil on
board, 12 x 16 in. Collection of the Artist. Signed
A. Dellasanta, LL
(bottom) The Cornell Club. Oil on board, 12 x 15 in.
Collection of Francis Bonsignore, former Chairman
The Cornell Club - New York. Signed A. Dellasanta, LL.
9

(top) Plaza Hotel, circa 1960, oil on board,
20 x 24 in. Collection of the Artist.
Signed A. Dellasanta, LR
(bottom) The Stanhope Hotel, circa 1960, oil
on board, 20 x 24 in. Collection of The Extell
Development Company. Signed A. Dellasanta, LR
10
Dellasanta has painted many landmark
New York City hotels, such as the Plaza,
circa 1960. Inspired by the fountains of
the Metropolitan Museum, Dellasanta
highlighted them in the Stanhope Hotel,
circa 1960.
Many art experts note that Dellasanta’s
paintings “draw you in” – you don’t
know everything about the scene at fi rst
glance. This causes you to use all your
senses to appreciate the work. Others see
Ernest Lawson’s skies in them. Dellasanta
uses customized palette knives and his
distinctive impasto technique creates a
vibrant colorful sense of energy. One art
critic, Richard Barons, referred to him
as “Binghamton’s Van Gogh.” Dellasanta
simply says, “I paint what I like.”
Louise K. Burke, while with IBM, traveled
across the United States, Europe and Japan.
Combining her business experience and art
interests she formed a private art gallery,
LKBurke Fine Art, LLC. The gallery exclusively
represents the work of Armondo Dellasanta.

Armondo Dellasanta
by Carol Gordon Wood
The Dellasanta Family, circa 1920. Armondo is second from left.
Armondo Dellasanta was born in 1916 on Clinton Street in Binghamton, New York.
His parents had emigrated from Pisaro, in Northern Italy. His father worked at the
Fairbanks Foundry while his mother raised Armondo and his four sisters. The family
spoke Italian at home. Clinton Street was then the thriving commer cial center of an
ethnically diverse neighborhood. The experience of growing up in this atmosphere may
have sparked Dellasanta’s interest in bustling street scenes.
As a child, Armondo liked to draw. He says, “We didn’t have much;... there was no art
supply store, there weren’t any kind of stores where you could buy pads and paper, pencils
and stuff like that, but I think I had crayon, and I used to draw pictures. And I think most
of the stuff that I drew had to do with the season of the year, like for Christmas, Easter,
Thanksgiving.” As a youth, he was apprenticed to a barber. He later worked in a print ing
plant as a linotype operator, running the printing presses and setting type on a keyboard
with 90 keys. He also did forestry work with the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Arnot
Forest near Elmira, New York.
11

(right) Armondo
Dellasanta as
a soldier in
World War II.
Austria 1945.
114th Regiment,
44th Division,
7th Army
In 1940, Dellasanta enlisted in the
army in response to a call for vol unteers
from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. By
then, he had begun collecting art books,
and had bought his fi rst set of paints.
While stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey
for basic training in 1941, he visited
New York City and began photo graphing
its streets and buildings. He also visited
12
(above left) La Goulue,
oil on board, 12 x 15 3/4 in. Collection of
the Artist. Signed A. Dellasanta, LL
(above right) Waldorf Cafeteria, circa 1960,
oil on board, 18 x 24 in. Collection of the Artist.
Signed A. Dellasanta, LR
(below right) Wall Street Guardian, circa 1960,
oil on board, 20 x 24 in. Collection of the Artist.
Signed A. Dellasanta, LL
Manhattan’s numerous art galleries and
museums, studying the works of more
recognized artists. He continued these
trips throughout the 1950s and 60s.
Dellasanta enthusiastically explored
New York’s neighborhoods. The sketches
and black and white photographs that
he made on these excursions later served
as references for his paintings. His New
York views form a virtual walking tour
of Manhattan, portraying landmarks and
scenes from Wall Street and City Hall in
lower Manhattan through Washington
Square, Balducci’s Produce and Avignone
Pharmacy in Greenwich Village, The
Waldorf Cafeteria in midtown, Central
Park, and Columbus Circle, to La Goulue
on the upper East Side.
Dellasanta’s attraction to New York
City and to images like the Statue of
Liberty and Columbus Circle may refl ect
his family’s Italian immigrant experience.

Many Europeans who came through New
York City around the turn of the century
were drawn by job opportunities to settle
in Binghamton, then undergoing a major
industrial expansion with employers like
the Endicott-Johnson Shoe Company and
International Time Recording Company,
forerunner of IBM.
During the war, Dellasanta spent a
week guarding the railroad buildings and
equipment in Susquehanna, Pennsyl vania,
which inspired a lifelong interest in this
subject. While stationed in Germany and
in France, where he earned a Bronze
Star, he made a series of striking, closely
observed pencil sketches of buildings and
scenery, life in the army camps, and his
fel low soldiers. On his return he made
colorful, imaginative oil sketches of
French scenery.
Back in Binghamton after the war,
he continued to collect art books. He
(above left) Balducci’s Produce, circa 1960,
oil on board, 12 x 15 in. Collection of Nina and
Andrew Balducci. Signed A. Dellasanta, LL
(below left) Columbus Circle, circa 1960,
oil on board, 12 x 16 in. Collection of the Artist.
Signed A. Dellasanta, LL
(below right) Washington Square Bus, circa 1960,
oil on board, 12 x 16 in. Collection of the Artist.
Signed A. Dellasanta, LL
was attracted by the work of members
of the Ashcan School, in cluding Robert
Henri and John Sloan, who painted
scenes of every day American urban life in
the fi rst decades of the 20th century. He
also admired the French and American
Impres sionists of the late 19th and early
20th centuries, such as Claude Monet,
Maurice Utrillo, Childe Hassam, and
Ernest Lawson, who captured effects of
color, light, and atmosphere with broad,
broken brushstrokes. He early formed
the goal that he “didn’t want to pro duce
work that looked like every one else’s.” He
began to paint in earnest, drawing on the
photo graphs he had taken, and continu ing
to photograph scenes that interested him
in Binghamton, Sus quehanna, New York
City, and elsewhere. He continued to visit
New York City and to study art in museums
and in the windows of art galleries. He
rarely went into the galleries, perhaps
13

feeling himself apart from the New York
art world.
After the war, Dellasanta worked as
an inspector in an automobile parts plant.
When his employer went bankrupt in
1961, he decided to take a year off to paint
full-time. He painted in the mornings and
explored the city in the afternoons with
his camera, looking for subjects to paint.
He created a substantial body of work. The
following year he took a job doing custom
framing, which he continued for the next
30 years.
Dellasanta has painted villages, cities,
and landscapes throughout New York State
and northern Pennsylvania. His paintings
preserve an earlier era in the places he
painted, which is fundamental to their
appeal. He painted Binghamton before
Ur ban Renewal, and Susquehanna in its
heyday as a transportation hub. His New
York scenes show many famous landmarks,
some of which are no longer extant, as well
as buildings and street scenes that simply
appealed to him. He has an extraordinary
ability to discern and bring out the
picturesque qualities in scenes such as
Avignone Pharmacy with its brilliant red
awning, or City Hall with its yellow taxis
in the foreground. His works are highly
atmospheric, bathing the scenes in a
specifi c color of light, such as the blue of
a winter twilight in Central Park, or the
grays of a stormy day in Columbus Circle.
This quality carries strong emotional
14
(left) City Hall, circa 1960
oil on board, 20 x 24 in. Collection of the Artist.
Signed A. Dellasanta, LL
(middle) Central Park, circa 1960
oil on board, 12 x 16 in. Collection of the Artist.
Signed A. Dellasanta, LL
(right) Avignone Pharmacy,
circa 1960, oil on board, 12 x 16 in. Collection of
the Artist. Signed A. Dellasanta, LR
associations of the experience of place. As
John Apgar has pointed out, “His vignettes
recall treasured memories, such as eat ing
at a sidewalk cafe, walking in Central Park,
being with the bustling crowds at Grand
Central Station, feeling the breezes on
the waterfront or watching chess games at
Washington Square.”
He uses his black and white
photographs as a refer ence to get the
details of the build ings right. Then he
“dreams up” the people and traffi c that
enliven the scene, using any colors he
chooses. His style has evolved, always
with the goal of remaining distinctive,
and a vehicle for his vision. Early in his
career he discovered the tech nique of
painting with a palette knife instead of a
brush, and im mediately found that it gave
him the freedom and spontaneity he was
looking for. This technique produces thick
impastos, or buildup of paint. Recently
he has adopted the use of a pencil point,
rather than the palette knife, for drawing
in details and lettering.
While working as a framer, he be gan
experimenting with a drypoint etching
technique utilizing scrap pieces of
plexiglas left over from framing. He had
a book on Ameri can printmakers, and
was fascinated by the etchings of Reginald
Marsh and others. He developed his own
drypoint technique, and has created
hundreds of marvelousIy detailed and
atmospheric etchings. Some are of the

same subjects as his paintings; some are
more intimate and narrative in content.
In a way these drypoints, which demand
meticulousness and preci sion, are the
antithesis of his paint ings, with their free
and loose technique, although they share
with the paintings a lively, kinetic quality,
produced here through linear means.
Dellasanta showed his work regularly
in annual outdoor art shows in Bing hamton
and Susquehanna, Penn sylvania. His work
began to be collected and appreciated.
He ex hibited at Gil Williams’ Book Loft
on Court Street, Binghamton, which
enhanced his reputation with col lectors.
Today he exhibits at the Avenue Art Gallery
in Endicott, and he had a one-man show
of his etchings at Barnes & Noble in 2001.
In 1998 he began working with Louise K.
Burke as his agent. She has helped to bring
his work to wider public attention, and to
place it in numerous public, private, and
corporate collections.
He won fi rst prize at the Dorfl inger
Glass Mu seum Wildfl ower Art Festival,
White Mills, Pennsylvania, in 1998
for one of his views of the Starrucca
Viaduct; another is in the collection of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Mu seum in
Strasburg. He has exhib ited at the National
Academy of Design, New York City, at
Munson-Williams-Proctor Art In stitute,
Utica, New York, Roberson Museum,
Binghamton, New York, and now in this
major exhibition at the Italian American
Museum in New York City. His work is
represented in the Broome County Public
Library, Broome Community College, and
Roberson Museum collections.
While Dellasanta’s work is becom ing
more widely known, he remains modest
and maintains his independence of
viewpoint and style. Perseverance and
belief in his talent have enabled him
to produce an important body of work
chronicling the pictorial histories of his
beloved Manhattan, his hometown of
Bing hamton, New York, and Susquehan na,
Pennsylvania. These nostalgic recollections
constitute a life’s work that is still
unfolding in his quest to pass on his living
experiences to others through his art. He
says: “I don’t have any thing profound to
say about art. I’m a self-taught painter and
. . . all I do is paint, and that’s it.” Collectors
and admirers of his work hope that he
continues to do just that.
I would like to thank John Apgar, Art Consultant,
and Roberson Museum and Science Center for
permission to use material from its exhibition
catalogue, Armondo Dellasanta: Favorite Places, Places
2003. I would like to acknowledge Louise K.
Burke’s carefully researched and compiled
historical notes on Dellasanta’s paintings.
Carol Gordon Wood is Consulting Curator of
Art at Roberson Museum and Science Center,
Binghamton, New York. She has worked as
Curator of Decorative Arts at Munson-Williams-
Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, New York.
15

16
Untitled, date unknown, oil on board, 8 x 10 in.

A Touch of Green in the Sun
by Maria Cocchiarelli
John Gambino was fi rst introduced to me as John Gambin. Later, upon refl ection
and a little detective work, the revelation occurred that Gambin and his signature
cartouche might be a nom de plume. The major clue was that Gambino’s writing on
the back of the works was in Italian. Having very little information to go on besides
the dates that he visited New York from Italy (1940 until 1954) and the knowledge
that he studied at the Art Student’s League allowed for the work to speak for itself,
and that indeed it does. One is struck by Gambino’s incredible handling of the paint. Light
is the objective in most of the work while recording what he saw becomes secondary. On
the back of one of his cityscapes, Gambino wrote “Carica il chiaroscuro quel Tocco di verde
nel sole.” Translated, it reads “full of chiaroscuro that touch of green in the sun.”
In the spirit of Robert Henri, Gambino becomes one in the litany of artists pursuing
their dream through self-expression. As Henri once said in the Art Spirit:
Ever since the beginning there have been artists who have found
in the simple life about them the wonderful and the beautiful, and
through the fact of this inspiration have sensed the way to make the
combination of form and color we know as art.
Untitled, date unknown, oil on board, 8 x 10 in. Lower East Side, 1943, oil on board, 8 x 10 in.
17

The power of Gambino’s paintings lies in experiencing the moment he portrays.
Sometimes, an overwhelming sense of loneliness is felt even without a direct narrative. It is
his choice of palette and the empty scenes he portrays that may lead to this interpretation.
Only rarely does he place people within the composition of his cityscape.
The materials Gambino used were not archival at best, and it is remarkable that
18
(above left) Untitled, 1942,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.,
signed with cartouche JG, lower right
(above right) Untitled, date unknown,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.
(below right) Untitled, date unknown,
oil on board, 6 x 8 in.

such a large body of his work exists today. Art Appraiser and Consultant, Jane St. Lifer is
responsible for the introducing of the art of John Gambino to the New York community.
She and Steve Kennedy, Pulp Art expert, have made an effort to bring Gambino’s story and
wonderful “little jewel” paintings to the public. The Italian American Museum is hopeful
that more information concerning John Gambino will be revealed as time goes by.
(right) Duck Pond, date unknown,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.
(left) Untitled, date unknown,
oil on board, 6 x 8 in.
19

20
(above right) Untitled, date unknown,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.
(below left) Duck Pond, 1950,
oil on board, 6 x 8 in.
(below right) Untitled, date unknown,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.

John Gambino’s Little Jewel Paintings
By Steve Kennedy
Untitled, date unknown,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.
The expressions of “Little Jewel” paintings, Park Bench artist, and Historical Central
Park Scenes are some of the descriptions illustrating the works of John Gambino, an
Italian cityscape artist who arrived in New York in 1940 and remained until 1954, when
he recorded the summer scenes of New York City. Gambino always painted in the summer
from the vantage point of a park bench painter.
John Gambino’s scenes are primarily of Central Park, which include the Duck Pond,
Belvedere Castle, the Plaza, and the Cloisters. There are also scenes of South Ferry,
Brooklyn and the Lower East Side. The collection consists of over 80 paintings painted
during the war years and post-war era when the New York skyline consisted of concrete,
just before the glass and steel emergence of the new buildings of New York City.
Julien Alberts, a fellow painter and colleague of John Gambino, saved his paintings
over the decades. Little is known of John Gambino other than that he apparently returned
to Italy in 1954 and left behind a large body of work with Alberts. Gambino’s 14-year
visual record of New York City has a charming theme of a bygone New York. The lone
fi gure is recorded as “Dorothy,” who apparently became a model or central fi gure that
so often appears in Gambino’s paintings. At other times there are couples or an elderly
person walking past young lovers with the timeless message of the transitory nature of life.
Buildings remain as monuments of human existence in the most developed urban city
in the world. Some buildings in Gambino’s paintings have been replaced by the modern
structures of our time. Through the experience of John Gambino’s little jewel paintings
is a haunting wisp of past summers in New York City.
Steve Kennedy is an art dealer in historic American paintings with an emphasis on Maurice
Prendergast, Oscar Bluemner, and American Illustration art of the 20th century.
He established the Richard Lillis Scholarship in 1994 for the Art Student’s League, pioneered
Pulp Art with Robert Lesser culminating in the Pulp Painting Exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum
in 2003.
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(above left) Untitled, 1940,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.,
signed “J. Gambin,” lower right
(below left) Untitled, date unknown,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.
(below right) Untitled, date unknown,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.,
signed with cartouche JG, lower right

(above left) Untitled, date unknown,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.
(above right) Untitled, 1948,
oil on board, 6 x 8 in.
(below right) Untitled, 1953,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.
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(above left) Untitled, 1942,
oil on board, 5 1/2 x 9 1/2 in.
(above right) Untitled, 1949,
oil on board, 6 x 8 in.
(below right) Untitled, date unknown,
oil on board, 7 1/2 x 11 1/2 in.,
signed with cartouche JG, lower right

(above left) Untitled, date unknown,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.
(below left) Untitled, 1953,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.,
signed with cartouche JG, lower right
(below right) Trinity Church, date unknown,
oil on board, 8 x 10 in.

www.italianamericanmuseum.org