Lorenzo Ghiglieri, American (1931 -)

Contemporary Oregon painter and sculptor Lorenzo Ghiglieri was born in Los Angeles, California, where he was influenced by his Italian sculptor father, Angelo and his French pianist and vocalist mother, Freida. He began his life living on the fringe of a ghetto, an urban melting pot. As a child, he carved in soap, modeled clay, and often watched his father sculpt.

At age seventeen, he won a scholarship to the Los Angeles Trade Tech Junior College. With the training he received there, he solidified his move into the visual arts.

The Korean War interrupted his art education, but, eventually he served as staff illustrator and naval painter. During this time and at the age of just 22, he received a commission to paint the cruiser, U.S.S. Baltimore, which was officially presented by the United States to Great Britain on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Lorenzo has won numerous national awards in design and illustration, including an invitation to paint scenes for an international biblical epic, "Earth, Theater of the Universe".

In 1992, Lorenzo sculpted the "American Bald Eagle" in bronze, silver and gold, which is part of the permanent collection at the White House. More recently, he created a 33-foot tall bronze eagle, "Skookum Hyak" (Power Surge), and has produced sculptures for many Companies all over the World. His sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and son was donated to The City Hall of Kansas City in 1985 by Orville W. Anderson.

It was not until 1974 that Ghiglieri turned to bronze sculpture and the centuries old 'lost wax' method to produce his precise, life-like sculptures in bronze, silver and gold. The process takes approximately eight weeks from beginning to end. And in the case of larger heroic size monuments it can take a year or longer to produce the finished product.

Pieces by Ghiglieri have often been auctioned for charity causes, including the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, AIDS, children with cancer and the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Ghiglieri's work is held in numerous prominent collections, including the permanent White House Collection, the Vatican, Kremlin, and the Smithsonian Museum. Many world leaders possess his sculptures, among them Pope John Paul II, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Mikhail Gorbachev, an