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.