Artist

Louis Monza

born Turate, Italy 1897-died Redondo Beach, CA 1984
Media - monza,-louis.jpg - 90088
Copyright unknown
Born
Turate, Italy
Died
Redondo Beach, California, United States
Active in
  • New York, New York, United States
Biography

Louis Monza was a pacifist who also embraced radical socialist doctrines. His concern for the human condition is evident in his allegorical paintings executed during World War II. … Characteristically, the painting's meaning is cryptic [ORCASTRA AT WAR, SAAM, 1986.65.131], since Monza preferred that viewers freely interpret his works. Monza was equally at ease when painting, drawing, sculpting, or making prints. His youthful apprenticeship to a master furniture carver and his exposure to northern Italy's painting traditions influenced the decorative detail, dramatic color, and volumetric, exaggerated forms of his later efforts. After emigrating to the United States in 1913, Monza began experimenting with different media. He did not devote himself to making art, however, until an accident in 1938 ended his occupation as a house painter. Three years later, his career as a regularly exhibited artist began in New York.

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan Made with Passion: The Hemphill Folk Art Collection in the National Museum of American Art (Washington, D.C. and London: National Museum of American Art with the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990)

Works by this artist (9 items)

Robert Laurent, Mother and Child, ca. 1924, alabaster relief in wood frame, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John N. Stern, 1996.89A-B
Mother and Child
Dateca. 1924
alabaster relief in wood frame
On view
Robert Laurent, Madame De, n.d., felt-tipped pen and ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1975.69
Madame De
Daten.d.
felt-tipped pen and ink on paper
Not on view
Robert Laurent, Two Boys, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1975.4.2
Two Boys
Not on view