“It’s my sentence on earth to paint!
I was put on this earth to create happiness in people.
So I paint beauty, fantasy.”
Mario Grimaldi
Mario Grimaldi born in NYC in 1927, early on made his way as a shoe shine boy, taking in the magic of the city and meeting almost all the great Jazz musicians of his time. He served in the United States military and later graduated from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.
He created work of extraordinary craftsmanship and precision-where fantasy is superbly blended with realism; described as a prolific action painter understanding the poetry of motion.
His paintings and sculptures have hung worldwide; including the Gallerie Lamoureux Ballancourt Sur Essone in Paris and the Galeria La Gravure in Malmo Sweden. Nationally, in Devaux Gallery in Carmel California and the Ada Gallery in New York. He founded and directed the Suffolk Arts League and spent many years headlining outdoor arts festivals all along the East coast.
Nevertheless his permanent home remained on University Place and Eighth Ave in Greenich Village. Mario Grimaldi became Free At Last in 1997. For many years his son Frank Grimaldi has collected his works and for the first time is able to share them for sale on this site.
Mario Grimaldi painted “In the Beginning ,” which depicts a large child in front of a cross , for the First Church of Christ. Photo: Andrew ltkoff
