DANTE
GUARIGLIA,
IMPRESSIONIST
A PARTY IN YOUR EYES
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT: I’m not classically trained as an artist. When I was a kid in New York
City, I saw a sidewalk portraitist highlighting an eyelid in charcoal, and it stuck with me. My
dad bought me charcoals, and a friend’s father, who was an artist, gave us lessons.
AN ARTIST IN THE HOUSE: I dropped art for a while, but got back into it when I got married.
Our walls were bare, and I thought “I can make something for them.” I read as much as I could,
and fell in love with the impressionists. They’re paintings that make you want to look again.
There’s more interaction between the art and the viewer. You can sit and stare at them. They
make a party in your eyes.
THE PROCESS: I work in acrylics, and I don’t stop until I get rid of the painting. When you
touch a painting again, it sets up a whole other language and dynamic, and changes the whole
thing. I have 50 going at the same time now. I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment.
PERSONAL PALETTE: I don’t use many colors in a single work. The shades will be variations
on one primary color. Once the brush touches the canvas, it’s like being in another world.
Guariglia’s works are on display at the Nicholas F. Rizzo Fine Arts gallery in Chatham. ➤
FALL 2016
MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
31