Antonio Frasconi
Encyclopedia
Antonio Frasconi
is an artist known for his woodcut
s. He has won a number of awards and illustrated over 100 books. His major work took ten years to complete and is a series of woodcuts that illustrate "The Disappeared
". The work illustrates real people who were tortured and killed in his home country of Uruguay
during the dictatorships that ended in 1985.
, Argentina
, but he was brought up in Montevideo
in Uruguay. He had parents of Italian
descent. They had moved to South America during World War I
. Frasconi's mother managed a restaurant whilst his father was frequently unemployed. Frasconi frequently quotes his mother and her view of his talents. He reports that his mother would talk of art at the church where she was brought up as if it was done by God rather than being the work of man. She felt that if Frasconi had been born with a gift then he would already be a famous artist rather than working like her each day. His mother worked in the restaurant, cared for Frasconi and his two sisters and still found time to be a seamstress
By the age of twelve, he was learning a trade at a printers after abandoning a course at Círculo de Bellas Artes
. During his teenage years he admired Gustave Doré
and Goya, whilst indulging in creating caricatures of political figures.
During the war, an exhibition of impressionism and post-impression was organised by the French in Latin America. Artists such as Van Gogh
and Cézanne
captured his imagination. However it was the woodcuts of Paul Gauguin
that he was attracted to most. Frasconi says he became intrigued by American writers and musicians. He would hear Jazz on the radio and read American authors like Walt Whitman
.
Frasconi moved to the United States in 1945 at the end of World War II
. He worked as a gardener and as a guard at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art
. It was at that museum that he had his first dedicated show. His recognition was beginning to grow and within twelve months he had a similar show at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
In 1982 Frasconi was the Distinguished Teaching Professor of Visual Arts at the State University of New York at Purchase
. His artistry was recognised by an award from the Guggenheim Foundation., 1953.
In 1959, Frasconi was unsuccessful when shortlisted for the Caldecott Medal
for his book The House that Jack Built. However in 1971, when the Association for Library Service to Children
of the American Library Association
devised the idea of a Caldecott Honor, they retrospectively awarded the new secondary prize to a number of books including Frasconi's book.
In 1962, Frasconi won a Horn Book Fanfare award for The Snow and the Sun - La Nieve y el Sol a book he had created in two languages. He has frequently produced multilingual books.
Frasconi's students have included Adrian Lee Kellard
and Ron Rocco
.
His major work took ten years to complete and is a series of woodcuts that illustrate "The Disappeared". The work illustrates real people who were tortured and killed in his home country of Uruguay. Frasconi was four years into this work when democracy was restored following the dictatorship of Juan María Bordaberry
through to General Álvarez
. Bordaberry, who came to power in 1973, was jailed for crimes against humanity. The dictatorships, which ended with the military rule by Álvarez, ended in 1985. The regimes resulted in the deaths of political prisoners and in 2009 those involved in the murders are still being arrested.
is an artist known for his woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
s. He has won a number of awards and illustrated over 100 books. His major work took ten years to complete and is a series of woodcuts that illustrate "The Disappeared
Forced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
". The work illustrates real people who were tortured and killed in his home country of Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
during the dictatorships that ended in 1985.
Life
Frasconi was born in 28 April 1919 in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, but he was brought up in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
in Uruguay. He had parents of Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
descent. They had moved to South America during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Frasconi's mother managed a restaurant whilst his father was frequently unemployed. Frasconi frequently quotes his mother and her view of his talents. He reports that his mother would talk of art at the church where she was brought up as if it was done by God rather than being the work of man. She felt that if Frasconi had been born with a gift then he would already be a famous artist rather than working like her each day. His mother worked in the restaurant, cared for Frasconi and his two sisters and still found time to be a seamstress
By the age of twelve, he was learning a trade at a printers after abandoning a course at Círculo de Bellas Artes
Círculo de Bellas Artes
The Círculo de Bellas Artes is a building located in Madrid, Spain. It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1981....
. During his teenage years he admired Gustave Doré
Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Doré was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.-Biography:...
and Goya, whilst indulging in creating caricatures of political figures.
During the war, an exhibition of impressionism and post-impression was organised by the French in Latin America. Artists such as Van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
and Cézanne
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
captured his imagination. However it was the woodcuts of Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin was a leading French Post-Impressionist artist. He was an important figure in the Symbolist movement as a painter, sculptor, print-maker, ceramist, and writer...
that he was attracted to most. Frasconi says he became intrigued by American writers and musicians. He would hear Jazz on the radio and read American authors like Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
.
Frasconi moved to the United States in 1945 at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He worked as a gardener and as a guard at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is an art museum located at 1130 State St. in downtown Santa Barbara, California.It was founded in 1941 and currently ranks amongst the top 10 regional art museums in the United States . It is home to both permanent and special collections, the former of which...
. It was at that museum that he had his first dedicated show. His recognition was beginning to grow and within twelve months he had a similar show at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.
In 1982 Frasconi was the Distinguished Teaching Professor of Visual Arts at the State University of New York at Purchase
State University of New York at Purchase
Purchase College, State University of New York, is a public four-year college located in Purchase, New York, United States. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York system...
. His artistry was recognised by an award from the Guggenheim Foundation., 1953.
In 1959, Frasconi was unsuccessful when shortlisted for the Caldecott Medal
Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
for his book The House that Jack Built. However in 1971, when the Association for Library Service to Children
Association for Library Service to Children
The Association for Library Service to Children is a division of the American Library Association. Its members are concerned with the profession of children's Librarianship...
of the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
devised the idea of a Caldecott Honor, they retrospectively awarded the new secondary prize to a number of books including Frasconi's book.
In 1962, Frasconi won a Horn Book Fanfare award for The Snow and the Sun - La Nieve y el Sol a book he had created in two languages. He has frequently produced multilingual books.
Frasconi's students have included Adrian Lee Kellard
Adrian Lee Kellard
Adrian Lee Kellard was an American artist known for his woodcuts and sculptures of religious and often homoerotic imagery.A kellard is a bird from North Eastern Argentina.-Death:...
and Ron Rocco
Ron Rocco
Ron Rocco Born: Ft. Hood, TexasRon Rocco is an American artist living and working in New York City and Berlin, Germany. His work entails performance, mixed media installations and sculptural constructions employing a mix of found objects and prepared elements.Fields of interest: Installation art,...
.
His major work took ten years to complete and is a series of woodcuts that illustrate "The Disappeared". The work illustrates real people who were tortured and killed in his home country of Uruguay. Frasconi was four years into this work when democracy was restored following the dictatorship of Juan María Bordaberry
Juan María Bordaberry
Juan María Bordaberry Arocena was a Uruguayan politician and cattle rancher, who first served as President from 1972 until 1976, including as a dictator from 1973 until his ouster in a 1976 coup...
through to General Álvarez
Gregorio Conrado Álvarez
Gregorio Conrado Álvarez Armelino is a Uruguayan general and former dictator. He served as the de facto president of Uruguay from 1981 until 1985.-Background:...
. Bordaberry, who came to power in 1973, was jailed for crimes against humanity. The dictatorships, which ended with the military rule by Álvarez, ended in 1985. The regimes resulted in the deaths of political prisoners and in 2009 those involved in the murders are still being arrested.
Works
- See and Say, 1955
- Frasconi Woodcuts, 1958
- The House that Jack Built (La Maison Que Jacques A Batie)
- A Whitman Portrait, 1960
- The Snow and the Sun - La Nieve y el Sol, 1962
- A Sunday in Monterey;: Woodcuts, 1964
- The Cantilever Rainbow (A) by Ruth KraussRuth KraussRuth Krauss was an author of children's books, one of the most well known being The Carrot Seed, and an author of theatrical poems for an adult audience. Many of her books are still in print....
, illus. by Frasconi (1965) - A Kaleidoscope in Woodcuts, 1968
- Against the Grain, the woodcuts of Antonio Frasconi, 1974
- 12 Fables od Aesop
- The Disappeared, text by Mario BenedettiMario BenedettiMario Benedetti was an Uruguayan journalist, novelist, and poet....