Michael de Lisio (American, 1910-2003)
De Lisio was a sculptor and poet known for his portraits of artists and cultural figures. He utilized a slightly whimsical, sometimes distorted style grounded in realism and his subject’s personalities. De Lisio worked mostly from photographs in cast bronze and painted terra-cotta. His work is small, marked with minimal and expressive detail. His cast-bronze sculpture of Marsden Hartley depicts Hartley cloaked in a dark coat with a hat shading his face. The natural color and texture of the bronze allows De Lisio to create an atmosphere of mystery and enigmatic quiet about Hartley.
De Lisio served in the United States Navy during World War II, and upon returning home, worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in public relations. He turned to sculpture and poetry at the age of 54 and was mostly self-taught. He had solo shows at the Nova Scotia College of Art, Halifax; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover; and Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton.
