REFINING HIS ARTISTIC VISION:
The Artist as Student
Editorial Staff, Toledo University, 1954 (Frank Gallo, right); Ancestry.com
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STUDENT LIFE IN TOLEDO, OHIO: 1948 - 1955
Gallo attended Jesup Wakeman Scott High School, in Toledo, OH, from 1948 - 1951, graduating in June 1951.
THE UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO: 1952 - 1955
From 1952 - 1955, Gallo attended the University of Toledo, graduating in June 1955 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), School of Education. During his time at the University of Toledo, Gallo was very active in student clubs and campus activities, including membership in Phi Kappa Chi, the Future Teachers of America, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Elementary Education Club, and the Fine Arts Club. He also served as an editor and art director for the university's Blockhouse Yearbook and participated in the Art Club and university theater programs. Most notably, he also served as a university representative to the Art Federation of Toledo and was elected the Senior Class President of 1955, a most fitting way to end his academic career at the University of Toledo.
In the colloquialism of the day, Gallo was a BIG MAN ON CAMPUS!!! Commenting in 1985 about his BFA in education, he assessed the degree as: "reflecting both my desire to become an artist and my family's urging that I have a trade and be employable."
Frank Gallo, Summary of Activities and Membership, University of Toledo, 1955
Blockhouse Yearbook, University of Toledo
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Frank Gallo, Student Athletic Card, University of Toledo, 1951 - 1952
Frank Gallo Archives
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Frank Gallo, member, Future Teachers of America, University of Toledo, 1952
Ancestry.com
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Frank Gallo, member, Young Men's Christian Association, University of Toledo, 1954
Ancestry.com
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Frank Gallo, member, Elementary Education Club, University of Toledo, 1955
The Blockhouse Yearbook, University of Toledo
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Phi Kappa Chi House, University of Toledo, 1955
Blockhouse Yearbook, University of Toledo
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Phi Kappa Chi members, University of Toledo, 1955
Blockhouse Yearbook, University of Toledo
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Frank Gallo, Phi Kappa Chi event, University of Toledo, 1955
Blockhouse Yearbook, University of Toledo
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Frank Gallo, Bachelor of Education, University of Toledo, 06-10-1955
Frank Gallo Archives
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THE TEACHING OF ART: 1955 - 1957
Following his graduation from the University of Toledo, Gallo began graduate work at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In 1955, he held his first one-man exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art. During 1955 and 1956, Gallo served as: 1) a substitute teacher at the Toledo Museum of Art for Children, Toledo, OH, and 2) the Art Activities Director at the Jewish Community Center, Toledo, Ohio. During 1956, he temporarily gave up the graduate program at Cranbrook Academy of Art to serve as an Art Supervisor and teacher within the Rossford Community Schools, Rossford, Ohio.
Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen, photographer
Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum and Library, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, 1942
Michigan Modern
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Harvey Croze, photographer
Crankbrook School Art Class, 1952
Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
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Harvey Croze, photographer
Cranbrook Academy of Art, Graduate Degree Show, June 1955
Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
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Harvey Croze, photographer
Cranbrook Academy of Art, Graduate Degree Show, June 1955
Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research
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Jewish Community Center on Collingwood Boulevard in the Old West End of Toledo, Ohio, 1952
Toledo Area Jewish History
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Rossford High School, Rossford, OH, 1956 (from Yearbook Table of Contents)
Rossford High School, Rossford Public Library
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Frank Gallo -- faculty member, Art, Rossford High School, Rossford, OH, 1956
Rossford High School, Rossford Public Library
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THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: 1957 - 1959
On January 4, 1957, a newspaper article proclaimed, "Carabin-Gallo Wedding to be Held Today." The parents of the groom lived on Lincoln Avenue in Toledo, OH; the guardians of the bride lived on Robinwood Avenue in Toledo, OH.
Per the announcement, Mary Louise Carabin was attending the University of Toledo and a member of Chi Omega sorority; her fiancée, Frank Gallo, was "working for his master's degree at Iowa State University." In reality, Gallo was studying at the State University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA., now known as the University of Iowa.
On May 6, 1958, Mary and Frank welcomed their son, Joseph (Joe) Willfred Gallo, to the world. While juggling fatherhood and his advanced degree at the State University of Iowa, Gallo served as a Graduate Assistant in Sculpture in 1958 and 1959. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts on June 12, 1959. In 1959, the university hosted a one-man exhibition featuring Gallo's work.
History and Appreciation of Art Lecture, University of Iowa, 1958
University of Iowa Yearbooks, University Archives
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Art Students, University of Iowa, 1958
University of Iowa Yearbooks, University Archives
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Mauricio Lasansky with Art Students Discussing Work, 10-24-1956
University of Iowa, Frederick W. Kent Collection of Photographs
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Frank Gallo, Master of FIne Arts, State University of Iowa, 06-12-1959
Frank Gallo Archives
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Gallo started graduate work at the State University of Iowa in 1958 with a focus on both sculpture and printmaking. As part of his academic portfolio, Gallo created the sculptures below. These pieces marked his earliest sculpture studies in the female form, reflecting an expressive style, i.e., capturing emotional presence despite minimal detailing. However, no matter the artistic period, Gallo remained passionate and non-apologetic about his portrayal of all things feminine. Years later Gallo would state:
“I’m obsessed with the female figure. I get static from some women – you know, women’s lib- who say that I capitalize on them. But that’s not fair. What I express in these pieces is worship, not exploitation. I’m interested in the beauty of the female figure, and I’m trying to express it, the way I feel it.”
For his Master of Fine Arts thesis completed in 1959, Gallo chose the subject, Development of Cire Perdue bronze casting at the State University of Iowa. Cire Perdue, or lost-wax casting, is an ancient metal casting method where a wax model of a sculpture is encased in a ceramic mold, then the wax is melted out, leaving a cavity for molten bronze to be poured into, resulting in a unique, highly detailed bronze replica. The casting process would prove most important to Gallo throughout his major artistic periods.
Please see the accompanying video for an overview of the cire perdue process.
The Lost Wax Casting Process
National Sculpture Society
PROFESSOR MAURICO LASANSKY: Artistic Influence for Frank Gallo
Mauricio Lasansky was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1914. Due to his early contributions in the development of graphic techniques and his dedication to printmaking, Lasansky is considered to be a forerunner in the evolution of the graphic arts as a critical art form and is recognized as one of the "Fathers of 20th Century American Printmaking."
In 1943, Lasansky was offered the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship; he subsequently came to the United States and studied the print collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1945, he took his first position at the State University of Iowa, as a visiting lecturer for graphic arts. Within three years, he became a full professor and ultimately established its program in printmaking, offering the country's first Master of Fine Arts program in the field; his printmaking shop was recognized as one of the best in the world.
As an artist Lasansky is best known for significantly expanding the possibilities of intaglio printmaking, a process in which an image is created on the surface of a metal plate using a range of techniques such as etching, drypoint, aquatint, and engraving. Many of the prints in his oeuvre remain among the largest and most technically complex in existence.
In the early 1980s, Gallo reflected upon the significance of his graduate studies with Professor Lasansky:
"Low-relief sculpture had always been a significant technique for me, perhaps due to my studies in printmaking and drawing under Maurizio [sic] Lasansky at the University of Iowa, where I earned my Master of Fine Art degree [1959], so it was indeed fortunate that low-relief sculpture was so well suited to paper."
A MAURICIO LASANSY GALLERY
Mauricio Lasansky
Sol y Luna, 1945
National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald Collection
Rngraving, gouged-out white areas, etching, soft-ground, aquatint, with scraping and burnishing on wove paper
Plate: 15-13/16" x 20-3/8"
Sheet: 18-1/8" x 24-1/2"
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Mauricio Lasansky
Portrait of an Artist, 1951
National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald Collection
Color engraing, etching, sof-ground, drypoint, and electic stipple
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Mauricio Lasansky
Sagittarius, 1955
Lasankyart.com
Engraving, etching, aquatint, soft ground, lift ground or aquatinted stopped-out areas, electric stippler, scraping and burnishing
21-1/3" x 35-1/3"
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Mauricio Lasansky
Amish Boy, 1967
Lasankyart.com
Etching, engraving, drypoint, soft ground, aquatint, electric stippler
27" x 17-3/4"
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Mauricio Lasansky
Little Girl, 1968
Lasankyart.com
Etching, soft ground, drypoint, grease ground, electric stippler, scraping and burnishing
15-1/2" x 13-3/4"
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Mauricio Lasansky
Lady with Derby, 1978
Lasankyart.com
Etching, engraving, drypoint, soft ground, aquatint
18" x 17-3/4"
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Mauricio Lasansky
Quetzalcoatl, 1972
Lasankyart.com
Engraving, etching, drypoint, soft ground, reverse soft ground, electric stippler, aquatint, lift ground, scraping and burnishing
75-2/3" x 33-1/2"
(Download here)
Mauricio Lasansky
Freud, 1984
Lasankyart.com
Etching, drypoint, soft ground, Chine collé
25-3/4" x 23-2/3"
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MAURICIO LASANSKY: The Nazi Drawings
Among Lasansky's best-known works are The Nazi Drawings, an extraordinary series of 30 monumental individual drawings produced between 1961 and 1966 plus a drawing triptych made between 1963 and 1971. The entire suite has been given to the National Gallery of Art by The Levitt Foundation of Des Moines, Iowa, to steward as part of the nation’s art collection.
Lasansky began The Nazi Drawings in 1961, the year of the first televised trial of Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi war criminal and a major organizer of Holocaust atrocities. Justice, human rights, and humanity were longstanding concerns for Lasansky, and he used the series to capture the atrocities of the Holocaust and World War II. The figures in the drawings—which include soldiers, religious leaders, women, and children—are life-size, with some reaching over 6-feet tall. Each tells a story of Lasansky’s disgust at the brutality of Nazi Germany. Lasansky made the series of 33 works with pencil, turpentine wash, ink, and collaged elements like Bible and newspaper pages. The final work—a tripytch—was completed after the original series of 30, and it was composed of scrapped drafts of earlier pieces. A sampling of the drawings appear below.
Mauricio Lasansky
No. 1 from The Nazi Drawings, 1961
National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Levitt Foundation - Des Moines, Iowa
Graphite and asphaltum turpentine wash on card
23-1/2" × 23-1/4"
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Mauricio Lasansky
No. 16 from The Nazi Drawings, 1961
National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Levitt Foundation - Des Moines, Iowa
Graphite with erasures, asphaltum turpentine wash, and red powdered conte crayon wash on card
71-1/8" × 43-1/8"
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Mauricio Lasansky
No. 23 from The Nazi Drawings, 1961
National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Levitt Foundation - Des Moines, Iowa
Graphite with erasures, asphaltum turpentine wash, red powdered conte crayon wash, white opaque watercolor, and cut-and-pasted biblical scripture paper on card
66-7/8" × 45-11/16"
(Download here)
Mauricio Lasansky
No. 25 from The Nazi Drawings, 1961
National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Levitt Foundation - Des Moines, Iowa
Graphite with erasures and asphaltum turpentine wash on card
43" × 42-9/16"
(Download here)
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