Abstract Expressionist John Grillo Has Died at 97 — artnews.com

Abstract Expressionist painter John Grillo died of a heart failure at age 97 on November 26, just over a month after a five-decade retrospective of his work at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Born in 1917 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Grillo became interested in art at a young age. After his family relocated to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1930, he made frequent visits to the Wadsworth Atheneum, where he saw 18th- and 19th-century portraits that created a passion for art, which lasted his entire life. Five years later, in 1935, Grillo enrolled in the Hartford School of Fine Arts and began to paint landscapes inspired by the Ashcan School. In 1937, at the young age of 20, Grillo worked with Alexander Calder and Eugene Berman for Paper Ball: Cirque des Chiffoniers, a theatre production held at the Hartford Arts Festival.

Read More