SANTO BRUNO (AMERICAN B.1947) Land View 1985-86 oil on canvas 127.5 x 104 cm (50 1/4 x 41 in.) unframed signed lower right PROVENANCE Acquired directly from the Artist Private Collection, Connecticut LOT NOTES Santo Bruno has worked in two and three-dimensional media as well as installations. His art is primarily abstract and is known for its deceptive simplicity and inventiveness. His interest has been to strike a balance between order and intuition while focusing on emotional, spiritual and intellectual ideas. He believes that randomness is inherently constructive and he is interested in ideas that involve multiple visual and sensory permutations.  He has exhibited internationally and has been active in Philadelphia, PA; Rome, Italy; Atlanta, Georgia; New York City and Connecticut. Santo Bruno was born in 1947 and raised in Reading Pennsylvania to Italian-American parents. The young Bruno won many local and regional contests and awards before entering Tyler School of Art of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1965-1969).  At Tyler he studied with Stephen Green, David Pease and Charles Schmidt. He spent his junior year studying art at Tyler School of Art in Rome, Italy. He returned to Tyler, Rome, as a Graduate Assistant 1969-71. While in Rome he exhibited at The United States Information Agency, the American Embassy and at Loyola University. His work was exhibited with noted artists Dimitri Hadzi, Robert Philipp and others. In Rome he met and was encouraged by Philip Guston, who was then a fellow at The American Academy in Rome. While at Tyler, Rome, Bruno also worked as an instructor and one of his students was photographer Laurie Simmons.  In 1971, Bruno graduated from Temple University with honors and received the Nathan Margolis Memorial Award. Upon graduation, he was hired by the Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, Georgia as an art instructor and later became head of the painting department. As department head, Bruno invited Joan Snyder and Philip Guston to Atlanta as visiting artists. Bruno also met and formed working friendships with artists Edward Ross and Kinji Akagawa. He lived in Atlanta for 12 years, had numerous one-person exhibitions and also received a Governor’s award for his commission of five large-scale artworks titled “The Vista Series" at the new Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport in 1980. During the airport project he interacted with Steven Antonakos, Richard Smith, Benny Andrews and others.  Bruno was the founding president of The Atlanta Art Workers Coalition whose formation later led to the creation of ‘The Art Papers’. During his last year at the Atlanta College of Art he was awarded an honorary Bachelor’s Degree. In 1983 Bruno moved to New York City and after a brief stay on the upper west side he moved to a large living loft on the shore of Staten Island. On Staten Island he was active at Snug Harbor Cultural Center where he was Chairman of the board of The Art Lab Art School. During this time he became friends with famed photographer Rae Anne Rubenstein. Bruno worked in New York for 20 years and had numerous one-person/and group exhibitions. In 1990, the Staten Island Advance cited Santo Bruno as Artist of the Decade. Also in 1990, he received a New York State Council on the Arts Exhibition Grant. During this period, for his one-person exhibition at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Bruno created a new body of interactive artworks called "Crossings".  These works were inspired by the deaths of his father and his close friend, writer Jean Piava. At this time, Bruno began to focus on other interest.  In 1990, he developed a private business of buying, selling and restoring fine works of art. He moved to Connecticut in 2000 and purchased and restored an 18th century home which includes his studio. Subsequently, he has been actively creating new work and in 2012, for the first time in over a decade he had a one person show in Charleston, South Carolina. The year 2012 was notable as the High Museum of Art, in Atlanta Georgia, gifted one of Santo Bruno artworks in their collection to the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. Bruno continues to work on creating art while focus on a variety of themes and objectives.