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Ad Code: 4
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Ring of Life
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
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Biography from R.H. Love Galleries:
| Italian-American artist Nicola Conigliaro was the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Giuseppe Conigliaro, immigrants from Sicily. Following five years
as a professional football player and service as a U.S. Marine during
World War II, Conigliaro studied at the Layton School of Art,
Milwaukee, where he graduated in 1949. A year later he
established the Open Studio in Milwaukee, where he conducted classes
and established exhibitions twice a year.
Conigliaro did everything himself, from erecting a platform for the
model, to building the easels and chairs for the students. The Open
Studio grew “to become a kind of clearing house for the younger
Milwaukee artists . . . and Nic has become a recognized promoter of
Milwaukee art and artists.” In a local newspaper Conigliaro
stated, “It’s my good luck that I’m doing work now that I love. So, my
main ambition is to spread good will, especially for people less
fortunate than me . . . Artists at every level work at the studio for
free, if they can’t afford to pay anything.”
Conigliaro managed to do his own paintings, when not helping
students. Already in 1951 Conigliaro won the City of Milwaukee Purchase
Prize. In 1954 the artist won a silver medal and membership in
the Accademia Letteraria Araldica, an international cultural honorary
society based in Naples, Italy. Shortly thereafter, he received that
society’s gold medal. The circus was Conigliaro’s favorite theme:
clowns, horses, monkeys, and merry-go-rounds. He also painted
Festa of San Giuseppe or St. Joseph Festival, a procession that dazzled
the artist since his childhood. The painting, presented to the Society
of St. Joseph, was also a memorial to his deceased brother Vincent, who
inspired him to become an artist.
In addition, he executed portraits of General A. A. Vandegrift,
commandant of the Marine Corps, which hangs in the Department of the
Navy (Washington, DC), that of Rocky Graziano, and others.
Graziano also commissioned a full-length portrait in a boxing pose.
Cecil B. DeMille admired his work and acquired samples. For John
Ringling North (Sarasota, Florida), Conigliaro painted images of
clowns: Felix Adler, Paul Jerome, Emmett Kelly, Lou Jacobs and Paul
Jung.
Source:
Richard H. Love and Michael Preston Worley, Ph. D. Reflections of
Reality: American Paintings from the Collection of John and Susan
Hainsworth, p. 26
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