Victor Cassenelli, St. Augustine. Aville St. St. Augustine, oil on board, 10 1/2 by 14 1/2 inches.
Victor Cassenelli was a painter of the American Indian. and a noted landscape and marine artist. He spent his early life in Cincinnati, moving later to Muskegon, Michigan. He often wintered in Florida. In 1932 Cassenelli was in Sarasota for the winter and painted a number of local scenes. He spoke to the Sarasota Woman’s Club in January, 1932 on modern art. The Sarasota Herald, January 28, 1932, “While soft music played, the audience watched spellbound as the artist transformed a sheet of white canvas into a glowing Florida sunset. First came the deeper reds and yellows, then the softer tones of the sky crept up toward the zenith and the reflection of the afterglow suffused the floating clouds above. The shore lines in purplish tones grew dimly distant. A group of palms sprang from the headland. The water in the foreground shimmered in sympathy with the sunset glory. Again a group of taller palms shot up from the rocky fore shore, giving a wonderful distance to the canvas. A stroke or two of deeper color in the fore ground and the picture was complete. The soft music, which had accompanied the painting as a background, died away. The artist laid down his brushes and the audience gave a deep sigh and broke into loud applause.”
Cassenelli first came to St. Augustine for the winter season, 1937. The St. Augustine Record, January 21, 1938 commented, “Victor Cassenelli and Mrs. Cassenelli were both hard at work on equally attractive oil paintings. So look for Signor Victor Cassenelli’s crimson and golden sunsets before which there is sure to be a group of admirers as at every showing of his work.”
He opened a studio on Aviles Street in 1939. The St. Augustine Record, February 1939 mentions Cassenelli: “Victor Cassenelli is working on four large canvasses to submit to the New York World’s Fair Exhibition of Contemporary American Art, 1939. These will consist of scenes peculiar to Florida and composed from typical sketches of this city and environs. One of these will be the ‘Old Doorway of the Don Toledo House.’ Titles of the other oils will be ‘Night in the Everglades,’ ‘Florida Sunset,’ and ‘St. Johns River Scene.’ How better could St. Augustine be represented than by this unequalled artist?” On December 1, 1940 the Record continued: “There is a decidedly romantic approach to these works, much as though one were looking at some stage setting for actual life. They are really beautiful interpretations of nature….”
Born: 1867.
Died: 1961.
Membership: St. Augustine Arts Club; Florida Federation of Art.
Exhibits: St. Augustine Arts Club, February 1937; Florida Federation of Art, Annual Circuit, 1938; SAAC, February-March 1938; SAAC, January-March, 1939; Florida Federation of Art, Annual Exhibit, Bradenton, December 1940, Birches on the River Bank, A Florida Scene; SAAC, Alcazar Hotel, January 1941, temperas, Florida Sunset, Main Coast.
