Home | About the Artist | Limited Editions | All Other Editions H. Hargrove (Nicolo Sturiano)
H. Hargrove's other interest in addition to art, is working on his home, that he has built in New Jersey, recreating in it a wonderful eclectic mixture of early American and Italian flavor that friends and visitors find exquisite. In these pages are glimpses of his home. Although very little publicized, he is a very accomplished traditional painter, and his one of a kind fine oil paintings are hanging throughout his home, along side his collection of serigraphs. Many people have asked him to reproduce his oil painting collection into lithographs to share with the American public. Hargrove has been referred to as a poet with a paintbrush and a compelling visual storyteller. His works reflect his vividly detailed vignettes of Americana, typically-set in the Heartland during the early to mid 20th century. Calling his own work "Images of America on Canvas", the artist has chronicled American life and celebrated traditional American values in his paintings for more than 30 years. One of H. Hargrove's highest honors was to be selected as an official artist for the Olympics Centennial Games in 1996. His celebrity status has made him the official artist for the 1999 Women's World Cup Soccer Tournament. For more news and the latest paintings from Hargrove, visit the artist's official website. All
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H.
Hargrove was born in 1941 in Southern Italy. He came to America
in 1964 after having earned a degree in wine chemistry at the Institute
of Wine Technology in Marsala, Italy. His first employment in this
country was with a winery in upstate New York. Although happy with
his job, H. Hargrove rekindled his life long love for art when he
saw the opportunity to decorate the wine tasting room with paintings.
These paintings, appropriately so, portrayed monks making and testing
wine in medieval tradition, immediately becoming the delight of
the crowds touring the winery.This amazing artist also fell in love
with the farmland and farm life of the American countryside, which
he found so close to his heart, having himself grown up on a farm
in Italy. In 1968, H. Hargrove finally made the decision to embark
in an art career without any formal art training, armed exclusively
with the desire to paint 
American
barns and American nostalgia. Although the beginning was difficult
and unrewarding, H. Hargrove had the inner drive not to be discouraged
continue with his work. He felt at that point that it was necessary
to adopt an American pen name he found more fitting to the nature
of his work, although remaining very proud of his Italian heritage.
Slowly his work became accepted more and more, making it necessary
for him to experiment with silkscreening to satisfy the ever increasing
demand. With no formal training in silkscreening and by experimenting,
he developed a very unusual way to use it.
H.
Hargrove applies up to thirty colors to his canvas, and interestingly
enough, he does not know what his finished product will look like
until the final coating. Well known American Artists upon studying
his work said of his technique, "He paints with silkscreening."
With his vast variety of subjects that range from his original barns
to every aspect of early American life, he has captured the hearts
and imagination of people everywhere. Today, H. Hargrove serigraphs
are carried by galleries throughout the country and sell on an average
of sixty thousand per year, and can be found in over two million
homes throughout the land. Avid collectors everywhere await eagerly
for his next release, and gallery owners subscribe in advance to
his limited editions months before they are produced, making him
perhaps the most collected artist in American today. In addition
to his serigraphs, H. Hargrove has introduced a series of limited
edition collector plates, cups and tiles.
At
the request of his collectors, H. Hargrove has been for the last
three years making personal appearances, to give talks and explain
his technique, and each time he's amazed of the warmth and genuine
affection which emanates from his audience, and he feels humbled
and determined to constantly improve his work.