Florence Graziano

1960s Mid-Century Abstract Expressionist Oil Painting in Primary Colors

circa 1965

Florence Mercolino Graziano was a painter and sculpture who worked in charcoal, clay, ivory, oils, ceramics and watercolors. Her subject matter primarily consisted of figurative work, floral motifs, still life, portraits and landscapes. She was born in Plainfield, New Jersey in the early 20th Century, before 1950 (exact date unknown). Florence Mercolino Graziano’s artistic talents were recognized at the early age of five by her school teachers who noticed her ability to draw immediately. From that time on she continued to paint with watercolor, pastels and began carving Ivory Soap Bars and oil painting by the age of ten. After graduating from Mt. St. Mary’s in Watching, New Jersey, Graziano studied art at Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, Ohio. She furthered her training at the Art Students League of New York under the Dean of Figurative Painters, Robert Brackman; Curator of American Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Beverly Hale; Roberto De Lamonica, graphics and sculpture and John Hovannes. She also studied at The Cape School of Art under Henry Hensche in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Florence Mercolino Graziano received an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy Degree by Colorado State Christian College in 1973 and is currently Director--instructor of the Graziano School of Fine Art which she founded in her hometown studio of Plainfield, New Jersey. Florence Graziano is a member of the American Artists Professional League, Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Club, NYC; the Hudson Valley Art Association and the National Arts Club. She is also, listed as Who’s who in the Arts and Artists/USA. Graziano taught and lectured privately in her own art schools since 1962. She also wrote and illustrated children’s books and authored an article for the 1978 issue of the American Artist Magazine, titled “The Studio Art Workshop”. She currently lives in Plainfield, New Jersey with her husband Muhlenberg Hospital anesthesiologist Dr., Natale Graziano. Exhibited: Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Maryland; Bullocks Wilshire, Los Angeles; Chase Gallery, N.Y.C.; the Salon de la Societe de L'Ecole Francaise at the Museum of Modern Art, Paris France as one of 15 artists selected to represent the United States in the 1971-1972 Exposition. Further Reading: The Artists Bluebook: 34,000 North American Artists to March 2005, Lonnie Pierson Dunbier of AskArt.com Inc. 2005, Who’s Was Who in American Art, 1564-1975, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Pr; First Edition edition, June 1999, Who’s Who in American Art, Jaques Cattell Press, 12th edition, 1976 ©David Cook Galleries, LLC