Victor Joseph Gatto (American, 1893–1965)

Victor Joseph Gatto, a painter, was born in Little Italy in New York City in 1893. After his mother died, he spent several years in a Catholic orphanage and school through fifth grade. His life after school was difficult; Gatto held various jobs from plumber to boxer but was very often living in poverty. During World War I, Gatto entered the Navy, but was dishonorably discharged; he subsequently served time in Dannemora Prison in upstate New York (from 1920 until 1930).

It was during the 1940s and 1950s that Gatto found the most success with his work. His collected works include an assortment of images from the divine to the mundane, the city to the jungle, and from utopia to total war. From his pastoral paintings to those of fantasy, Gatto’s tones are rich and his brushstrokes inviting. But much like his own life, these warm invitations devolve from pockets of bliss into impending loneliness and sorrow.