League

The League, and Jack Reilly’s classes in particular, had
a noteworthy history of well-known pupils who would go
on to become renowned artists, actors, and together with
their friends and relations would undertake other endeavors
within the arts and entertainment fields. The Barrymores
had been students at the League. Charlton Heston
posed and modeled for life drawing classes during the
1940s. Gene Hackman had been a Reilly student in later
years. One day, Richard Kollmar walked into the League
and joined our painting class. Kollmar was a well-known
Broadway producer and voice of radio’s Boston Blackie.
He was married to Dorothy Killgallen, former newspaper
columnist and TV personality on the What’s My Line?
show. Together they had a morning radio program called
Breakfast with Dorothy and Dick, where they discussed
Hollywood and New York café society personalities from
the confines of their luxurious 16-room apartment. When
Richard realized the lack of exhibition space available to
League students, he established a small gallery specifically
for a select group of students. It was Richard who arranged
to have Bettie Page, who became renown as a pin-up model
in the 1950s, model for us at the studio. Page later had a
turbulent and troubled life but experienced a renewed rise
to fame in the early 2000s.
The Reilly System
Frank Reilly is known for the unique six-line figure. He is
especially noted for developing a means of organizing the
palette, based partially on the work of nineteenth-century
colorist Albert H. Munsell, separating color into hue, value,
and chroma. He organized the figure-painting palette by
creating nine values of neutral gray as a control, with corresponding
values of red, orange, and flesh tone. A valuebased
palette was also developed for landscape painting.
www.faragassoart.com
Opposite page: Painting by Jack Faragasso with black and white
reproduction from The Early Photographs of Bettie Page: An American
Icon. Right: Book cover by Jack Faragasso
Remembering John R. Ferone
Vanessa Hernández Artunduaga
In 1949 John Ferone, a native of Jersey City, signed up for classes at the Art Students League
of New York under the GI Bill, after having served in the Army Air Corps in such events as the
invasion of Normandy during World War II. From 1950 to 1954, John studied painting with
Frank Reilly and from 1979 to 1990 with Jack Faragasso, a former student of Frank Reilly. Over
the years, John developed his skills in pastels, watercolors, and charcoal, but oil paint was
always his preferred medium, due to its slow-drying quality. While at the League, John had
the opportunity to engage in friendly critiques and study alongside other aspiring artists from
all corners of the world, which in turn enriched his own creative experience. During his attendance
at the League, John learned to truly observe and capture the beauty in all faces, both
young and old. According to him, one does not need to be born with a special gift in order
to paint well or create; with the right amount of humility and self-determination, anyone is
capable of improving their technique and painting ability day by day.
Artwork by John R. Ferone
FALL 2015 19