The lyrical works of Lawrence Calcagno are saturated with richly emotive planes of colour, reflecting a lifelong interest in nature and establishing his position as an important figure within American abstract expressionism. Calcagno began creating art whilst growing up on his family ranch in the Santa Lucia Mountains, California. However, he first received recognition for his talent during his service in the US Army Air Corps where he won first prize in the national army art contest in the Southwest Regional competition. After World War II, Calcagno enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts and was taught by first-generation Abstract Expressionists Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still. From there he embarked on an artistic journey through Europe, studying at the L’Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris and the Istituto Statale d’arte in Florence. During his time in Paris in the 1950s, he developed a close artistic and personal friendship with fellow American artist Beauford Delaney; this was the subject of a major travelling exhibition in 2001 – 2002, An Artistic Friendship: Beauford Delaney and Lawrence Calcagno.
Calcagno’s mysterious yet charming abstract landscapes form a celebrated contribution to mid-century American art and the artist has been the subject of major solo exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. Testament to their significance, his paintings can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
