Vittorio Borriello was born on June 25, 1896 into a well to do family in Naples, Italy.  In 1927, Borriello emigrated to the United States of America.  He traveled to South America, probably more than once.  In 1936, the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio published an article by the Peruvian art critic Carlos Raygada at the event of an exposition of works by Borriello.  Between 1960 and 1962 Borriello visited Italy but returned to the USA and seems to have lived in New York, where he died on May 1, 1974.

Most of Borriello's work seems to be in private collections.  Judged by a few known paintings, he used a consistent style throughout his career.  His known works tend to the abstract, but never lose contact with visual reality.  Some portraits, landscapes, cityscapes and still life paintings are known.

Borriello also acted as an art critic. A few traces of this can be found on the internet.  Borriello had close contact with the Canadian artist Myfanwy Pavelic (1916-2007), during the years she lived and worked in the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan, New York (1943 and after).  From Pavelic' personal collection a few works by Borriello recently appeared on the art market. With Paula Gerard Renison (1907-1991) - a Chicago artist, teacher and author - Borriello exchanged a correspondence.

Sources:
Bottega, Official Journal of the Drawing Society of Canada, volume 4, number 1 (May, 2002).
Raygada, C., "La expos. de Vittorio Borriello", El Comercio, Lima 20.12.1936, III (source: Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague, The Netherlands).
Ricciardi, Enrico (Mr. Ricciardi resides in Pistoia, Italy; he is a family member of the artist and owner of some of his works
Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD, The Hague, The Netherlands
www.obituaryregistry.com (date of Borriello's death).
www.myheritage.it (contains the genealogy of the Ricciardi family, including Borriello's family relations and two photographical portraits of the artist).

Compiled and written by Rik Wassenaar, The Netherlands