Two New Paintings by Italian Artist Costantino Proietto Surface in the United States
Since July 2011, I have been investigating an ongoing art mystery involving twentieth century modern impressionist master, Costantino Proietto
(1910 – 1979). Among the most startling revelations, from the LoCastro
family in New Jersey is that I have been spelling the artist’s name
incorrectly. Originally, I understood his name to be “Constantino
Proietto”, but after verification by two friends of the artist, I shall
henceforth call him by his given name, Costantino Proietto.
After spending over seven months coaxing Google to recognize his
misspelled name, it will be interesting to see how long it takes for
Google to shift their search algorithm back to the proper spelling. In
order to assist them, I have changed all my previous mentions of
C.Proietto on the internet to the proper spelling of his name.
Many C.Proietto paintings
that now reside in the United States originated in Stuttgart, Germany.
Stuttgart had been an Allied bombing target during World War II, later
becoming a major center for U.S. Military operations in Europe. Today,
the 6th Area Support Group (ASG) is located in Stuttgart, providing
command, control, communications and Base Operations to Headquarters
United States European Command (EUCOM).
Why the Sicilian born artist immigrated to Germany during World War II,
we do not yet know. Judging by the number of people and paintings with
ties to both C.Proietto and the U.S. Military, it appears that the
artist lived in Stuttgart for many years. With the recent discovery of
more new pictures, it appears that he painted real life locations. In
order to create those scenes, the artist probably made many trips from
Germany to Italy and Switzerland. I have one report that he painted
within the walls of the Sistine Chapel, at the Vatican.
This
morning, when I opened my email, I had more good news. Peter Karns of
Severna Park, Maryland provided images of two newly discovered
C.Proietto oil paintings. Both works are family treasures, purchased by
Peter Karn’s father, who served as an aide to a U.S. Army senior
officer in Germany from 1944 to around 1946.
Both Karns family masterpieces appear on this page. One is an
impressionist Italian coastal scene, with ethereal Mediterranean light.
The other features a Swiss Chalet, with a river to one side and the
Alps reaching for the sky in the background. Although I do not know
either location, perhaps readers of this article could comment the
locale of the two new C.Proietto pictures. (Author's Note, July 2012:
The coastal scene is of Capri Marina Piccola. The alpine scene is of
Northeastern Italy and the Dolomite Mountains.)
Costantino Proietto’s skill in depicting the sky is unrivaled in modern impressionism.
In his Swiss Alps scene, the artist blends the granite of the
mountains with the sky above. In the coastal picture, he employs mist or
fog to blend light and color between sea and sky. Although these
images do a good job of bringing out the artist’s interplay with water
and light, viewing the effect in his original works is even grander.
In
the near future, we expect to hear from more friends, family and
collectors of Costantino Proietto. If any reader has pictures or
information regarding the artist, please send an email or click on
“Comments” below. Because so many of his works included Italy’s Amalfi
Coast, we once called the artist “The Man from Amalfi”. With so many new Costantino Proietto works now surfacing, we may have to add, “The Man from Stuttgart” to his biography.
By James McGillis at 04:39 PM | Personal Articles | Comments (3) | Link
