A highly acclaimed artist for heroic themes revealing the anxieties of America during the 1930s, Jon Corbino depicted disasters such as wars and floods. These paintings were tributes to the perseverance of man against unknown forces of the universe. He was much admired for his skill in draftsmanship and
brilliant, smoldering colors.
He was also known for his love of horses, sometimes painting these powerful animals as mythic symbols from the Greek legends of the childhood. In addition, he painted the fantasy of the circus and the ballet, often from back stage where the performers were captured in a reflective moment.
Jon Corbino was born in Vittoria, Sicily in 1905 and came to the United States with his parents at the age of 8. He grew up in New York City and attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School on an art scholarship and then enrolled in the Art Students League. He received two Guggenheim Fellowships and was elected a member of the National Academy of Design in 1940.
In 1941, he received the first grant awarded to a visual artist from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. The poet Stephen Vincent Benet made the presentation at Carnegie Hall, and in his commendation said that Corbino "has brought to American art rare gifts of color and design, and because of the honesty, richness and variety of his work." Corbino's work was also featured in three Venice Biennales.
In 1966, a critic for the Chicago American wrote of a Corbino retrospective exhibition: "he painted people of the world-people on the beach, in the sun, in the moonlight. But he graced them with spirit, life, and movement that transcend the everyday."
His work is represented in 64 U.S. museums as well as the Lotus Club, New York, NY; First National Bank of Chicago; Fine Arts Society, Sarasota, FL; Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO; Ringling College of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL; Georgetown University Library, Washington, D.C.; The United States Post Office, Long Beach, Long Island, NY; Town of Rockport, Massachusetts, Rockport, MA.
