Interview: Alan Pascuzzi

A Q&A with Alan Pascuzzi, a painter, sculptor, and professor of art history.  He comes from a family of artists including the sculptors of US presidents carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore.

Alan lives in Florence, Italy, with his family.

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What motivates you to produce your style of art?

I am drawn to the art of the Greeks and Romans and to the Renaissance masters.  In a sense, making art like artists in those times is my way of competing with them on their own turf but also an attempt to discover how they made their masterpieces by trying to work like them.  It is imitation and competition at the same time.

Do you focus primarily on sculpture or do you spend time on painting/drawing and other media?

I am focusing on sculpture at the moment as recently I have had more commissions for sculpted works.  I can move back and forth from painting to sculpture as needed.  I usually concentrate on the particular commission – painting or sculpture – come what may. 

The basis for everything, however, is drawing and before I start a work in painting or sculpture I begin with making drawings.  Drawing is the most important tool for all the arts – like it was for the old masters – and this is how I begin.

Do you sell any of your preliminary sketches?

My preliminary sketches are some of my most precious works of art.  There are some drawings, such as of my late father or of my children, that I could never let go.  I realise that my other preliminary drawings are valid works of art in themselves and have a certain value.  A drawing must be sold to someone who can appreciate the skill needed to make it.   

How long have you lived in Firenze? Where else have you lived and where did you grow up?

I have lived in Florence since 1995 – going on 24 years.  I first came to Florence to study in 1990 for a summer.  I realised I had to come back and returned in 1991 to do my master’s degree in Renaissance Art.  I then returned in 1994 to do research for my doctoral dissertation and then in 1995 I returned with a Fulbright grant to finish my dissertation.  I have not lived anywhere else in Italy, only in Florence.  I grew up in a small town called Webster, New York which is on Lake Ontario near the city of Rochester, New York.  

Who were the biggest influences on your life and career choice?

The biggest influences on my life and career choice were my family.  My mother was a painter and my uncles where sculptors on Mount Rushmore – the big heads of the US presidents. 

I’m the youngest of six and we all grew up with art.    My mother painted in her studio in our living room and we all grew up playing, looking at art books from our library and painting and drawing while our mother painted next to us.  All of us could do art but when it came time to find a career most of my siblings went in different directions. 

 I remained in the arts by majoring in art history in college and doing a minor in fine arts. This is thanks to my very first academic advisor – Sister Magdalen LaRowe – a nun who was my first art history professor.  She was the one who understood my classical preferences and need for art history but also the need to pursue my own art.  She allowed me to develop a dual study of art and art history.   For me, art history and fine arts are inseparable and I pursued each – and pursue each even to this day.  

Tell us about your family – your wife, your children – what do you like doing together?

My wife, Loredana, was born in Pompei but grew up in a small town near Arezzo.  She is a nursery school teacher.  My three little munchkins, Gioele (Joel) 11, Elia (Elijah) 6 and Amelia 1 are the greatest things on the face of the planet.  I have used all of them in my works.  My wife too – as the Madonna.  I have painted, drawn and sculpted all of them many times over.  We love to get in the car and drive into the countryside and stop and get gelato or prosciutto sandwiches.  We also like to stay on the couch – all together – and watch a good cartoon or super-hero action movie.  

What’s your favourite food?

Fresh pasta with tartufo and butter sauce – not good for the heart but too good to avoid.

What’s your favourite place?

I miss my home in Webster – the snow, the cold, the lake.  I miss the tie in with nature.  I came to Florence because I felt a connection with ancient cultures, with the mastery of the masters and the closeness to a feeling of divinity.  For me, my favourite place is the one that draws me, or has drawn me to it the strongest – Florence is that city.

Do you prefer urban or rural – sea or mountains? Difficult to answer since I grew up in a wooded, hilly area right near a lake.  I am drawn to both sea or water and mountains.  I am not a city person, yet I live in an urban setting.  I would say more rural than urban.  Perhaps someday I will return.

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Alan Pascuzzi’s new book ‘Becoming Michelangelo’ is out in April. Alan recounts the young Michelangelo’s journey from student to master, using the artist’s drawings to chart his progress and offering unique insight into the true nature of his mastery. You can order your copy on Amazon.