Driven to paint, Giovanni DeCunto knew at the young age of seven that he would be an artist of such strength and talent that the world would know him. A turbulent childhood, set in the tough streets of Lawrence, did not interfere with Giovanni’s ambitions. Living on his own in an abandoned building during his teen years, attending school, and working a full-time Giovanni’s grit and determination enabled him to graduate from high school and pursue his dream of attending art school. Upon graduating high school, Giovanni received two art scholarships, the first was to study commercial art at the Vesper George School of Art, and the second was to study fine arts at the Art Institute of Boston.
After a year, Giovanni left the Institute and set up his own studio on Boylston Street, marketing his paintings and fine-tuning his techniques. In 1984, he was offered a full four-year scholarship to Boston University’s School of Fine and Applied Arts. After completing BU and turning down Oxford, he accepted an International Fellowship for Renaissance Study at the University of Padua in Italy, a mecca for the Classics masters. He began to receive significant recognition during this time.
By the early 90’s, Giovanni’s robust mode of expression attempted to redefine classical genre by merging impressionism, expressionism and other significant movements. When commissioned by the GOP in 1992 to create a centerpiece entitled “The Spirit of America” for the Republican National Convention, he had already established a relationship with Rex Scouten, Curator of the White House, who introduced him to Very Special Arts in Washington, DC. Giovanni was among six artists chosen for the two-year world tour, “An American Collection.” This tour brought his paintings into permanent collections such as The University of Kentucky, The Reusch Collection in Zurich, Switzerland, and The Monarch Club. In 1997, he exhibited at the EUNO Royal Museum in Japan commensurate with a retrospective of Jackson Pollack and Robert Maplethorpe.
A voyeur of the current culture, Giovanni began painting icons in the late 90’s such as Gianni Versace, Michael Jordan, Robert DeNiro, Frank Sinatra, JFK Jr. and others. Prominent collectors continue to procure his work and establish his reputation: Reebok World Headquarters, Children’s Hospital Boston, Scutter, Clark and Stevens and Ropes and Grey are among this discerning group. Giovanni’s work was featured on a two-hour, prime time “Survivor” CBS special, with the cameras rolling in to capture the artist in his studio where he created the painting “Sweet Victory,” an inspirational piece of the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series. The piece was bought by one of the stars of the show and presented to her fiancée in front of millions of viewers. Altitudes Magazine, the exclusive Parisian-based publication, recently printed an interview with Giovanni and is the first time the magazine has highlighted an individual artist. In the article, Herve Chandes, Director of the Cartier Foundation, elegantly articulates his impression of Giovanni DeCunto, the artist: “His work is stunning, both in its critical dimension towards contemporary society as well as in the aesthetics he develops.”