I first met the artist in 1998. Since then, we have spent countless hours together in his studio, on the road to and from New York City, visiting museums and attending award ceremonies. Time with him always passes quickly because of his keen memory, shared experiences and great sense of humor. What follows are just a few excerpts from these conversations.
Armondo Dellasanta was born and spent his childhood only a few blocks from where he lives today.

Dellasanta’s father left Pisaro, Italy, but before coming to America went to Germany and France. His father had a brother in France, but none of his relatives decided to come to the United States. Dellasanta recalled that his father could do everything with his hands. His father did metal work, cement work, carpentry and made his own wine. Dellasanta’s father had lots of friends who came to the house to play cards, drink wine and smoke stogies. At the time, immigrants populated the streets of his Binghamton neighborhood, each group having their own grocery stores, bars and churches. There were lots of small shops. No one spoke much English, but everyone got along. Dellasanta remembered, “It was just like the Lower East Side.”

As a young boy, Dellasanta played street hockey using sticks and stones. He and his friends called it Shinney. They were too poor to buy sports equipment. He made a few pennies when Frank, the rag man came around to buy rags that he had collected from the neighbors. The rag man had a wagon with a scale. Before making payment, Frank always checked to see that the rags weren’t wet before weighing them. These memories may inspire his street scenes, especially those of children at play, Skating, Central Park, which are all filled with color, bustle and activity.

Dellasanta’s street scenes are teeming with activity, shoppers, cars and buses. He likes to put traffic and pedestrians in his paintings. Dellasanta noted Reginald Marsh’s influence concerning crowd scenes. The World’s Fair of 1939 was the occasion for Dellasanta’s fi rst visit to New York City.

He was inspired and awe-struck. He remembered seeing the tall and statuesque Gypsy Rose Lee. Also he bought his first art books: A Treasury of Art Masterpieces, Modern American Painting and A Treasury of American Prints, all published in 1939.

In 1940, Dellasanta joined the army infantry and was later shipped to Europe. He landed at Cherbourg in September, 1944. During the war, he carried a small lined notebook and did a few sketches of bombed out churches. His painting, French Countryside, circa 1944 shows trees stripped of their branches – due to the wartime restrictions that prohibited cutting down trees in their entirety for fire wood.


Dellasanta returned from the war on the luxury liner the Queen Elizabeth, then a converted military ship. Luckily, he had not suffered any serious injuries, only being hit by shrapnel. When the ship arrived in New York harbor, there was “a tremendous greeting by boats with huge water sprays.” His scenes of the New York harbor, the East River tugboats and the West side piers, Flandre, the Hudson River Pier, recall this joyous homecoming.

Ever since, he has repeatedly visited New York City to photograph and sketch.

Dellasanta would walk through the city, downtown to the Staten Island Ferry, then uptown, over to the west side, to Macy’s, Herald Square, circa 1960, then the East Side, the UN Plaza, the East River, then back downtown. He was captivated by bridges – The Brooklyn Bridge, The Manhattan Bridge and also by tugboats. He made many visits to the Fulton Fish Market and created several paintings of the area, Heading Towards the Fulton Fish Market, circa 1960, and South Street Seaport, circa 1960. Dellasanta especially loved the antique lamp posts and put these into many paintings. Dellasanta’s Staten Island Ferry, circa 1960 and Statue of Liberty, circa 1960 reflect the inspiration of John Sloan’s Ferry Boat Wake. Like Childe Hassam, flags inspire Dellasanta. This can be seen in his painting of The Cornell Club as well as in many of his Fifth Avenue scenes. Captivated by their unique architecture, Dellasanta has painted many landmark New York City hotels, such as the Plaza, circa 1960.

Inspired by the fountains of the Metropolitan Museum, Dellasanta highlighted them in the Stanhope Hotel, circa 1960. Many art experts note that Dellasanta’s paintings “draw you in” – you don’t know everything about the scene at fi rst glance. This causes you to use all your senses to appreciate the work. Others see Ernest Lawson’s skies in them. Dellasanta uses customized palette knives and his distinctive impasto technique creates a vibrant colorful sense of energy.

One art critic, Richard Barons, referred to him as “Binghamton’s Van Gogh.” Dellasanta simply says, “I paint what I like.” Louise K. Burke, while with IBM, traveled across the United States, Europe and Japan. Combining her business experience and art interests she formed a private art gallery, LKBurke Fine Art, LLC. The gallery exclusively represents the work of Armondo Dellasanta.