Daniel Celentano (American/New York, 1902-1980), "Charge", oil on canvas, signed lower left and en verso, titled on stretcher, 15 in. x 19 in., framed. Note: Born into an immigrant Italian family in New York in 1902, Daniel Celentano contracted polio at a young age leaving him with only partial use of his legs and unable to attend school forcing him to be homebound. His parents took note of his artistic talents and hired an art teacher and artist, the yet-to-be-famous Thomas Hart Benton, to come to their home to tutor their son in painting. At the age of 12 Celentano had the distinction of being Benton’s first student. Much like his mentor, he would go on to create many murals for the WPA, mainly focusing on the everyday life of the residents of Manhattan and East Harlem. Differing from that aesthetic is the work on offer here, entitled “Charge.” While the subject is not his typical scene of quiet Americana, it skillfully showcases the lessons he learned early on from Benton, employing a flowing organic composition that guides the eye through the work using stylized, slightly elongated figures and areas of bright color. Perhaps falling more to the illustrative side than his mentor, Celentano preferred to use larger numbers of people in his compositions that allowed him to maximize the aforementioned techniques to their fullest, creating movement and a force not characteristically depicted in his daily observational works. Vibrant and exciting, “Charge” adds to the richness of Celentano’s oeuvre. Ref.: Meyers, Donald, et al. “Industry, Work, Society and Travails in the Depression Era”. Gustavus Adolphus College. Nov. 2019. www.gustavus.edu. Accessed Aug, 9, 2022.

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