Exhibitions
American International Art Exposition, Inc., 1922
On January 6, 1922, the New York Times printed a list of newly chartered corporations in New York State, including American International Art Exposition in Brooklyn, New York, shown above.
The company had three partners: D. (Donato/Donatus) Buongiorno, G. (Giocomo, also known as James) Visconti, V. Marino. M. (Michael) C. D'Agrosa of 261 Broadway is listed as attorney.
Most eye-popping is the company's capitalization: $25,000.
I haven't been able to find out anything else about this company. It wasn't listed in directories or phone books, and I find no evidence of its activities in art business publications of the period.
I discovered some information about partner James Visconti. A photographer in Brooklyn, Visconti took over a photography business from his father. It was located at several addresses in Brooklyn from the 1890s through 1920s. Visconti signed Buongiorno's 1919 passport application as a witness testifying to his identity, having known him for 22 years, and probably also took the photograph of Buongiorno in the passport. A local address in Brooklyn which Buongiorno provided upon re-entering the U.S. in 1922 may have been Visconti's home.
I also located several business addresses for lawyer D'Agrosa and evidence of him doing legal work for other companies.
The Brooklyn location of the company is unexplanable. The only other evidence I have of Buongiorno's involvement in the art scene in Brooklyn is that a J. H. Moskow of H. J. Moskow Art Dealer, 180 Montague Street, Brooklyn, New York, provided a reference letter for Buongiorno's 1919 U.S. passport application.
American International Art Exposition, Inc. is a mystery. With $25,000 involved, I would love to solve it. Do you know anything about the company or any of these men? If so, please write to me.
Exhibitions in Italy, 1900, 1908
I have information that Buongiorno participated in an "art congress" in Rome in 1900. I have not been able to identify the event. If you can help me, please write. It may have been related to the "Sacred Year" (Anno Sacro) Exposition of Ancient and Modern Art announced in the New York Times on December 10, 1899, though I can find no record that this event ever took place.
Buongiorno had an exhibit of his paintings in his hometown of Solofra, Avellino, in 1908, in conjunction with restoration work he completed in the town's 16th century church. The source of this information is Le Rane, an Italian-language publication of the town. If anyone can tell me more about these activities, please write to me.
Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York, 1901
In several art biographies, Buongiorno claimed to have exhibited art in the Pan-American Exposition which was held in Buffalo, New York, in 1901.
Though the fair was heavily documented, I have not been able to substantiate this claim. He did not have work on display in the Exhibition of Fine Arts or in any other "official" buildings, that I can determine, nor did he win any prizes. (The fair was a major venue for promoting American art and its art activities were documented thoroughly.)
However, I have a theory on what he exhibited—this portrait of William McKinley, the U.S. President who was assasinated at the fair.
I suspect the portrait was commissioned by sympathetic Republicans, perhaps after McKinley died, and may have been exhibited at the fair or elsewhere in Buffalo. If anyone can help me substantiate this idea, please write to me.
From the 1930s on, the painting hung in a house in Brooklyn, New York, and it is now for sale. Write to me if you would like to be put in touch with the owner of the painting.
