January 06, 2024
Gregory Perillo is one of today’s most respected and renowned American Western artists. His powerfully dramatic, emotional depictions of Native Americans and early settlers, as well as Western landscapes and wildlife, have made him one of America’s leading painters and sculptors.
Born in Greenwich Village, Perillo moved to Staten Island, New York, at age two and has lived there his entire life. Poverty stricken as a boy, he was forced to use as canvases the paper bags ironed by his mother and his first medium was coffee. His earliest impressions of the American West came from his father, an immigrant, who was studying American History.
As a youngster, Perillo studied the works of the masters of American Western art, spending much of his time at the American Indian exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. After serving in the Navy in World War II, through the GI bill he began his formal art education. He attended the Pratt Institute, the School of Visual Arts and the Art Students League. Interestingly, Perillo’s most productive learning experience was spawned from a visit to Arizona in 1950, where he had a chance meeting with the legendary American master William Robinson Leigh. In what became almost a father-son relationship, Leigh taught Perillo, his only known pupil, for several years. Since then, Perillo has often traveled to Native American lands, where he has spent time studying the culture and customs as well as sketching the people and scenery of the American West.
Today, Gregory Perillo’s artwork hangs in hundreds of private and corporate collections, galleries, and museums throughout the United States. Starting in the 1980s, his paintings have been reproduced in many different mediums, from giclee canvas art, lithographs and limited edition collectibles. No living American artist has enjoyed greater market success. It appears that Perillo’s range is boundless. He paints canvases from miniature sizes to murals. Sculptures range from six inches to fourteen feet.
For the past two decades, Gregory Perillo has dedicated himself to philanthropic work, including donating his time and talents to the New York City Public School system, the Boy Scouts of America, the American Parkinson Disease Association, 9/11 charities, and many other charitable and humanitarian causes.
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