Antonio Frasconi
American, born Argentina, 1919 - 2013First Snow, 1959
Not on view
Woodcut on paper
Dimensions34 × 19 in. (86.4 × 48.3 cm)
Gift of Mrs. R. Spencer Bishop, Sr., 1964.23
Frasconi was born in Argentina to Italian parents. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Uruguay where, as a teenager, Frasconi drew political cartoons for the weekly publication Marcha. Frasconi came to the United States in 1945 to study with Yasuo Kunioshi at the Art Students League. He brought his mastery of the woodcut to a level of consummate skill and exerted considerable influence on the tradition of printmaking in the U.S. Technical accomplishments were always employed to express his interests, enthusiasms, rages and allegiances. Frasconi stated, “There is always something to say about what is real in our lives...I always wanted to communicate in my work what is dearest to me. Not death, but life itself, and the greatness is just being alive.”
