Giovanni Castano Sold at Auction Prices

Painter, Sculptor, b. 1896 - d. 1978

Castano came to America in 1904 from Gasperina in the southern part of the Calabrian region. Though a child, Castano brought with him the philosophy, the color, the music, and most important, the passionate humanity of his people and of the land. His impressionistic paintings are the reflection of all this background, distinguishable by Castano’s own color—the color of flowers.

A graduate of the Museum of Fine Art School, he studied under Philip Hale, Leslie Thompson, Huger Elliot, F.M. Lamb and Henry James. Upon graduation, he worked throughout the United States as a scenic artist for the theaters and opera houses. He has done murals for public buildings and many churches.

In 1938 he opened Castano Gallery on Newbury Street. The initial exhibition featured Italian Renaissance paintings with works by Fra Lippo Lippi, Filippino Lippi, Raffaellino del Garbo and Bartolomeo de Giovanni.

It was through his friendship with the brother of Winslow Homer, Charles Savage Homer Jr., that he became a major dealer of the landscape artist’s work. Among the paintings he sold was Homer’s 1876 “Breezing Up.”

Massachusetts Governor Francis W. Sargent made Castano the official painter of the Commonwealth in 1970. At the age of 74 he restored the Herter murals in the House chamber of the Boston State House. He also restored hundreds of canvasses of other great artists. Above all, he has painted America with as much love and passion as the native-born colleagues and teachers.

Compiled 2007 from information supplied by Castano’s daughter Elvira Castano Palmerio, including excerpts from the Boston Globe, March 25, 2007, “The Hidden Talent of a Long-Ago Celebrity.”