Tuscan and Venetian landscapes

Italian-American artist Marco Sassone celebrates homeland in Toronto exhibition

What would Van Gogh have said about a Marco Sassone painting? Perhaps he would have found in him a kindred spirit for Sassone's subjects as well as his brushstroke are both reminiscent of the old master. That is, with the exception of Sassone's love affair with Venice - his most popular subject matter. Perhaps these are what Van Gogh might have painted had he come from the golden boot.
This month at the Odon Wagner Gallery, Sassone celebrates his homeland with over 30 paintings and works on paper. From the romanticism of the Tuscan Hills - not so well-translated by the film Under the Tuscan Sun -Sassone has sketched out his second home. He paints in two places - from a Tuscan studio and one in San Francisco, but Sassone has recently announced that he will be taking up a permanent residency in Toronto the good. One wonders what Sassone's expressive brush will make of our Canadian winters.
Born in Campi Bisenzio, a small village in Tuscany in 1942, his family later moved to Florence. Here he befriended other painters such as Ottone Rosai and Ugo Maturo, both of whom encouraged him to keep painting despite other difficulties. But Sassone would take another direction, one which ultimately would lead him back to the world of painting. At the Istituto Galileo Galilei, he studied architectural drafting, for a period of several years, but miraculously supported himself by selling watercolour paintings of Florence to tourists. The success of this experience coupled with his love for art evolved into Sassone's romance with architectural structures.
Sassone was well-versed in his tradition when he launched his painting career. Beginning in Florence, Italy, he trained with painter Silvio Loffredo, who was himself a student of the infamous Austrian master Oskar Kokoschka. Later, the three would participate in a show together, one which showed an affinity for the vibrant colour and an agitated brushstroke. Sassone has taken this technique and applied it to a number of diverse subjects, infusing them all with a kind of wild portraiture.
Although the show at the Odon Wagner Gallery features images from his Venice and Church series, Sassone's repertoire of subjects is actually much larger. His brush has outline cityscapes as well as landscapes of Italy's Amalfi Coast. Also reminiscent of Van Gogh's peasant paintings are Sassone's portraits of the homeless. He completed several large canvases and charcoal drawings depicting the life he saw on the streets.
Sassone's involvement was not merely for the benefit of his art career, he actually involved himself politically, working with organizations such as Inter Aid, which helped children in crisis and Another Planet, based in Los Angeles, which worked with the homeless. Sassone took a personal interest in their cause, donating work to raise money.
But in the end, it is Sassone's translation of light that makes him a true genius. Somewhere in the abstraction of form, in the fragmentation of his subject through brushstrokes, he achieves the beauty of the building portrait, often showcasing it twice - the second time usually in the scattered reflection of water. His skill is in making us see vibrancy again in the Venice we have seen thousands of times before.
Marco Sassone: New Paintings and Works on Paper shows at the Odon Wagner Gallery, 196 Davenport Rd, from November 18 to December 11. For more information call 416.962.0438 or visit odonwagnergallery.com.

Publication Date: 2004-11-14
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