Francisco J. J. C. Masseria

Art Brokerage: Francisco J.J.C. Masseria Argentinean Artist: b. 1926-2002. The artist Francisco J. J. C. Masseria was born on April 7th, 1926 in Parana, capital of Province of Entre Rios, Argentina. Masseria's parents were Italian. Although none of his family were artists, Masseria showed evidence of a talent for art when he was quite young, drawing color pencil portraits of his grade school friends. Masseria began painting with oil paints when he was about 13 and progressed rapidly as an artist. His first achievement came at the age of fourteen when exhibiting at the Salon Annuale of Entre Rios he earned his first gold medal. At first glance, Masseria's paintings appear to be exquisitely classic ~ the luminous, angelic faces, the serene gaze of the untroubled, the Renaissance like costumes, but the backgrounds are of another time and place, whirling, swirling abstract masses. Francisco J.J.C Masseria's art derives from two opposed schools of thought: the Romantic realism of Diego Velasquez, Peter Paul Rubens and Eugene Delacroix, and the swirling abstract expressionism of Chaim Soutine and Willem de Kooning. Masseria combines these two forces in work that is both monumental and passionate. In the faces of his portraits Masseria attains a lyrical response to the human form, especially in developing the typically romantic serenity of the eyes. Listings wanted.