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Attilio Crescenti
Attilio Crescenti was born in 1925 in Northern California. His childhood was difficult: at nine months he contracted spinal meningitis, which resulted in developmental disabilities; at age three he fell out a 15 foot high window; and at age four he was institutionalized because of behavioral difficulties. He was found to be deaf, never spoke and communicated with his own version of sign language and other facial expressions.
At the age of 61 Crescenti was released from institutional care and placed in a board and care home. He soon began to attend art workshops at the National Institute of Art and Disabilities in Richmond, California. While he experimented with different media, Crescenti’s main focus was his obsessive, dense black pen drawings.
Crescenti was at NIAD for a year when, diagnosed with lung cancer, he returned to the state hospital, where he died.
He leaves behind a very small body of work; all are variations on a face with small, wide-spaced eyes, a round nose and the suggestion of ears. Open mouths are ringed with small teeth, and hands or feet sprout as many as twenty-five fingers or toes.
Though his art flourished in the studio environment at NIAD, and there were both exhibits and sales of his work, his drawings have been virtually unseen since 1987.
[price range: $1,800-3,500]
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