Tableaux

FOUR PAGE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED by the Italian-American artist DOMINGO SAGLIMBENE asking Fridolf Johnson if American Artist Magazine would be interested in publishing his manuscript.

1966 · 100182 — <p>Grosse Pointe Michigan July 11 1966. 1966. Fine. - Over 400 words penned on 4 sheets of 11-1/4 inch high by 8-1/2 inch wide creamy white paper. The artist Domingo Saglimbene writes to Fridolf Johnson the executive editor of American Artist magazine inquiring as to whether they might be "interested in the possible publication of a manuscript dealing with the development of an artist. I thought perhaps since the work gives an altogether unusual insight into the creative process you might consider it suitable for the magazine." He goes on to explain that most of what is published regarding artists is written by people other than the artist himself. Titling the work "The Flight of Swallows" he describes the various aspects of the work which has four chapters starting with the artist's boyhood and the artist's relationship to other people and women. Signed in full "Domingo Saglimbene". The pages are stapled together at top left and folded for mailing. Near fine.</p><p>Born in Catina Sicily the artist Domingo Saglimbene 1920-2016 moved to Detroit in 1932. A self-taught artist from the age of 6 he started painting full time in 1952 after serving in World War II. His paintings were exhibited yearly at the Detroit Institute of Art and were also exhibited by the University of Michigan. Saglimbene had several one-man shows in New York City and Detroit but subsequently shunned the commercial aspect of the art world and retired to a basement studio to immerse himself in painting. Three of his paintings were exhibited at the Midwest Museum of American Art in 2017 in a show titled "No Bounderies: Outsider Fold and Art of the Self Taught". One of his paintings is in the museum's permanent collection.</p><p>An illustrator and artist as well as a fine pressman the recipient Fridolf Johnson was an editor of American Artist Magazine until his retirement in the 1970's. As a graphic artist he designed title panels for Hollywood movies and art & typography for advertising as well as dust jacket illustrations. He wrote and illustrated his own children's books in addition to other works. He also compiled and edited the Knopf book "Rockwell Kent: An Anthology of His Work".</p> Grosse Pointe, Michigan, July 11, 1966.