Marco
Sassone is known for his intensely envisioned landscapes and
cityscapes, which combine a heightened sense of color with a
powerfully expressive gestural style of painting.
He was born in Campi
Bisenzio, a Tuscan village, in 1942. The family moved to Florence in
1954, and there he met painters Ottone Rosai and Ugo Maturo, who
encouraged him to follow his interest in art. In 1959, he
enrolled at the Istituto Galileo Galilei, where he studied
architectural drafting until 1961. During this period he supported
himself by selling watercolor sketches of Florence to tourists, many
of whom were Americans, which increased his fluency in English.
In 1962, he studied
with painter Silvio Loffredo, professor of art at the Accademia in
Florence. Loffredo encouraged him to develop his own style and
vision. For inspiration, Sassone studied the works of the 10th
century Italian impressionists, the Macchiaioli – Giovanni Fattori,
Vito D’Ancona and Silvestro Lega. He began exhibiting his first
works at this time. At the age of 25, he was selected to exhibit at
Lo Sprone Cultural Center in Florence.
In November 1967,
soon after the flood had devastated his city, Sassone traveled to
the United States and settled in California. In 1970, he moved to
Laguna Beach, a small seaside community, Mediterranean in geography
and climate, with its own commitment to the arts. He became a
regular exhibitor at the annual Festival of the Arts.
Throughout the
seventies, he participated in a variety of exhibitions in the U.S.
and abroad. Of his work then, the art critic for the Los Angeles
Times, William Wilson wrote, "Sassone is impressively gifted as
a colorist and skilled in rendering reflections and color in
light." On July 17, 1978, he received a gold medal award from
the Italian Academy of Arts, Literature and Science. On January 5,
1982, he was awarded the decoration and title of "Official
Knight of the Order to the Merit of the Italian Republic" by
Sandro Pertini, President of Italy.
Sassone had moved
his studio to San Francisco in 1981, continuing to exhibit here and
abroad. In March of 1988, the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery
hosted the American Preview for his one-person exhibition to be held
at the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery in Paris that April.
A few years earlier,
art historian Donelson Hoopes had published "Sassone," a
monograph, in concurrence with the artist’s exhibition at the
Laguna Art Museum. With prescience, Hoopes had observed, "Sassone’s
art has evolved from within, and such an organic, psychologic and
spiritual process may take his work along new and unforeseen
paths." By the late eighties, Sassone had become increasingly
concerned with social themes. He started working with the Inter Aid
Organization, donating paintings to raise money for the group’s
work with children in crisis. He also donated works to a non-profit
group called Another Planet, based in Los Angeles, supporting that
group’s work with the homeless.
In 1989, he began
extensive – and personal – research on the homeless. During the
years that followed, he painted a series of large canvasses and
charcoal drawings portraying the life he observed on the streets. A
number of these works have been exhibited since 1990 at the Chicago
International Art Exposition, the Basel Art Fair in Switzerland and
the Jan Baum Gallery in Los Angeles. He has also held
exhibitions at "Body Politic" at the San Francisco Arts
Commission Gallery, and "Issue of Choice" at the Los
Angeles Contemporary Exhibition (LACE).
In March of 1994,
his exhibition "Home on the Streets" opened at the Museo
ItaloAmericano in San Francisco. The Hamilton Family Center, the
only local organization providing 24-hour shelters for families and
children, received all proceeds from the sale of the exhibition
catalogs at the show’s opening. San
Francisco mayor Frank Jordan proclaimed March 30, 1994, "Marco
Sassone Day in San Francisco."
April 17, 1994
Kenneth Baker, an art critic for the San Francisco Chronicle
reviewed "Home on the Streets." Baker wrote, "there
is true technical brilliance here…In the drawings, his technique
seems to discover fresh descriptive possibilities each time
out."
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