Victor Joseph Gatto
Victor Joseph Gatto (born July 23, 1893 New York City, died May 25, 1965 Miami) was an American primitive artist.[1][2] Most of his work depicts daily life in New York, biblical scenes, or wildlife. He was most active in the 1940s and 1950s. His work has been compared to that of Henri Rousseau.[3]
Early life
Gatto was born in New York City on July 23, 1893, to an Italian-American family. His early life was marked by hardship. Gatto lived with his parents and four brothers in a Little Italy tenement until his mother died when he was 4. Gatto's father, a blue collar laborer, surrendered the children to an orphanage until he remarried four years later.[4]
Gatto dropped out of school after fifth grade to enter the workforce, working odd jobs to help his family. In 1913, he became a professional boxer. Over the next 6 years, he had more than 30 fights in the featherweight class.[5]
One of Gatto's brothers, John, was involved with the mob. As a consequence, Gatto was wrongfully imprisoned for a robbery he did not commit. He was sentenced to Dannemora prison, which he tried twice to escape during his term.[5] In World War II, he served as a steamfitter until a hernia prevented him from working.[3]
Artistic career
Gatto, who was entirely self-taught, began painting in 1938 at the age of 45 after hearing that artists in New York could make good money. He began with a simple setup, using an old plate as a palette and the back of a chair as an easel.[6] Elaine and Willem de Kooning, who were neighbors of Gatto, encouraged him to pursue painting.[3] By 1940, he had gained popularity among collectors of modern primitive art. His work is characterized by great attention to detail and minute, layered brushstrokes. He would reportedly spend as much as 18 months on a single painting.[7]
In 1943, the Charles Barzansky Gallery hosted a one-man show in his honor, garnering widespread praise. Gatto became a favorite of art collectors, who referred to him as "New York's Rousseau." A number of magazine pieces were written on him, and his work twice graced the cover of Town and Country. Despite his critical success and popularity among collectors, Gatto had little business acumen and struggled financially. He continued to work odd jobs for the rest of his life. His painting slowed in the late 1950s, and by 1960, his health was failing him. He died in Miami, Florida, a vacation spot throughout his life in which he settled in his final years, on May 25, 1965.
Gatto's work focused on religious and historical themes. He painted a number of biblical scenes, as well as ones from his own memory; at 18, Gatto witnessed the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, which he recreated more than 30 years later in Triangle Fire, March 25, 1911.[8]
Major works
- Suffering Christ
- Triangle Fire, March 25, 1911
- Biblical Landscape with Adam and Eve
- The Bathers
- Georgia
References
- ^ Kronthaler, Helmut. "Gatto, Victor Joseph." Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon - Internationale Künstlerdatenbank - Online , edited by Andreas Beyer, Bénédicte Savoy and Wolf Tegethoff. Berlin, New York: KG Saur, 2021. https://www-degruyterbrill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/database/AKL/entry/_00055304/html . Accessed 2025-05-16.
- ^ Ellin Gordon, Barbara Luck, Tom Patterson Flying free: twentieth-century self-taught art from the collection of Ellin and Baron Gordon 1997 - Page 103
- ^ a b c "Victor Joseph Gatto | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
- ^ "Victor Joseph Gatto | Grey Carter". www.greyart.com. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
- ^ a b Epstein, Gene (Spring 1988). "The Art and Times of Victor Joseph Gatto". The Clarion. 13 (2). American Folk Art Museum: 56–63 – via Issuu.
- ^ Life Magazine 8 Nov 1948 - Page 72 "But the thing that makes Joe Gatto unique is his dedication to the art of painting. It is an art in which he has never had any instruction. He works at it by the hour, squinting at canvases he usually props up on a tattered easy chair, laying on the .."
- ^ Winthrop Sargeant Geniuses, Goddesses, and People 1949 -- Page 190 "And let no one imagine that primitive painters do not work hard at their painting. Joe Gatto has worked many hours a-day for as long as eighteen months over a single picture. Lack of professional technique slows up a primitive."
- ^ Jaffe, Steven H.. "Gilded Age to Progressive Era: 1865-1918". Activist New York: A History of People, Protest, and Politics, New York, USA: New York University Press, 2018, pp. 132. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479828654.003.0008