N.P. Viola's Newspaper Girls: Gallery One
Ricco/Maresca is pleased to present an exhibition comprising more than 170 vibrant works on paper left behind by the previously unknown artist Nelson Patrick Viola. These works, which have never been exhibited and are collectively named Newspaper Girls, invariably depict women with bold lines and intense color blocks. Information handed down from one custodian of the oeuvre to the next indicates that Viola scoured newspapers to collect photographs of women, which he then used as the basis for each of his portraits. Every work is unique in its individuality, yet undoubtedly part of one artist’s vision. All the drawings were made in 14 x 17-inch spiral sketchbooks, sometimes signed and dated—with all the dates falling between the early and mid-1960s.
The son of two Italian immigrants, Viola was born in November 1910 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He spent most of his young adult life working for a construction company at New York City’s Grand Central Terminal—until 1940, when he was drafted into the United States Armed Forces at the onset of history’s deadliest war. Viola was a Technician Fifth Grade soldier; he was not trained for combat but was recognized for his “specialized skills” in construction. Though the duration of Viola’s service is unknown, he survived the war and spent the remainder of his life working as a salesman in an auto shop. Not much is known about Viola’s personal life aside from a few basic facts: he spent the entirety of his life in Connecticut, married twice, had children with both wives, and lived to the age of 98.
The contrast between the bold expressiveness of Viola’s portraits and the stark obscurity of his life reveals the private world of an image collector fascinated with femininity, youth, and the presentation of self. It also highlights the mysterious process through which a self-taught artist transformed the popular culture and aesthetic sensibilities of his time into art created for his own pleasure.
Click here to visit the online viewing room for this show and learn more about the works exhibited.