Sam Gant Ghost Space American Primitive Gallery

A small oil painting on canvas. It is a naive portrait of an American soldier in uniform. It appears to be framed in a handmade oak frame along with ...

Oil and acrylic on panel by acclaimed outsider artist, Bruno Del Favero (b. Italy 1910, d. USA 1995), circa 1970. Fine example showcasing Del Favero's skill at layering textures along with an aptitude for creating fantastical landscapes. Adding out of place animals (in this case, a lion and a tiger) to an otherwise believable countryside setting for a deer hunt, creates an imaginary context removed from reality. Del Favero's marriage of fantasy and whimsy beautifully suits his Naïve painting style. Signed on verso. Bio from the Philadelphia Museum of Art: Born Princeton, Michigan, 1910; died Greenwich, Connecticut, 1995 Bruno Del Favero moved from Michigan to northern Italy with his parents at age five, returning in 1928 and settling in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he married and remained for the rest of his days. He made his living as a mason, chauffeur, and landscape gardener. It is not known exactly when or why he began to paint his delicate and mysterious landscapes, but he was exhibiting in local art shows by the early 1970s and took himself seriously enough as an artist to join the Greenwich Art Society. He maintained a studio in the basement of his home, but never shared his art with his wife and five children. After the artist's death his family introduced his work to New York dealers Shari Cavin...