** Luigi Rocca **
Works:
New York Mirrors
Diner
City Skyline
Radio City Music Hall
Street and Taxi
Inverso
24 hr. ATM
Crescent City
Bio:
Luigi Rocca was born on December 26, 1952 in the Friuli region of Italy. His father, a teacher, understood that this youthful talent should be encouraged from the start. When he was five or six years old, Luigi shaped plaster and clay reproducing many characters belonging to a child’s world. He also loved little insects he found in his garden, often capturing them and studying them for realism.
In 1966, at the age of thirteen he took the first prize in an international fair for young painters at Jesolo. When he was fifteen , he attended art school at the Art Academy where he completed his apprenticeship. Rocca participated in exhibitions with great success in Lignano, Sabbiadoro, Jesolo, and along the Adriatic Coast winning two first prizes and two third prizes.
Painters from the Renaissance through Impressionism fascinated the artist. Looking at the past, with a special eye for the present, he paints figures, flowers and landscapes of great simplicity and interest. Flowers are especially important to him as they breathed the same atmosphere of tenderness and veiled sensuality in which his female figures are enveloped. Beginning in the early 1980’s, Rocca joined his classically trained technique with his interest in America, specifically New York, and his study of American Photo realists; producing stunning images of American icons-diners, taxis, and cityscapes.
Luigi Rocca, born in Italy, the cradle of art, brings the emotional charge of the Old Masters to the newness of the Americas, showing us the warmth and potency of a compelling city. America has never looked so inviting. He exhibited his artworks in many prestigious solo exhibitions. Since October 2007 his artworks, both originals and limited editions are exhibited at Arnot Galleries, 57th Street, New York.
I recall one collector of his work who was hopping to commission an artwork of the man’s living room over looking Central Park. This very wealthy cigar aficionado had an over the top exquisite custom made humidor cabinet that he wanted prominently displayed in the picture. If you are not familiar with what a humidor is I will explain. A humidor is usually a box or free standing cabinet, but can sometimes be an entire room that is designed to store and age cigars. A proper humidor maintains an environment that stores, preserves, and ages cigars for a number of years by maintaining its environment at the optimal humidity range of 68 % to 72% at room temperature. Many humidors have a hygrometer which measures the humidity level inside the box and adjusts accordingly. Those of us who savor the fine quality of good cigars know that a humidor is a small investment that will protect a much larger investment of valuable cigars for many years. As far as Luigi Rocca actually painting this wealthy patron’s living room with its heirloom humidor, I have no idea if the painting happened, but it’s a good story nevertheless.
** LeRoy Neiman **
Works:
April At Augusta
L’apres-midi d’or
Mickey Mantle
Wine Alfresco
Elephant Triptych
Bio:
LeRoy Neiman is probably the most popular painter and printmaker in America.
He is one of the few artists of the 20th century whose name has become a household word in millions of American homes.
He was born in St. Paul, and then studied at the Art Institute of Chicago where he also taught for 10 years before moving to New York City in 1962.
Through his art Neiman has explored contemporary leisure, all the pastimes and places people enjoy, and particularly the world of sports and the world of entertainment.
Neiman’s style explodes with the dramatic intensity of Abstract Expressionist brush strokes, strokes that pick out action that is strikingly accurate. This unique combination is so appealing that Neiman has brought art into lives of more people than most post-war American artists put together.
** Update **
These are 2 of my favorite artists. They are both well known & have amazing pieces of work to view.