Salto

 

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Salto's birth in 1922 in a small village north of Barcelona conicided on the same day locals claim the Virgin Mary appeared in the local grocery store.  His early exposure to the modern artists Picasso, Dali, and Braque influenced him greatly. Over the next 20 years, painting in small backstreet studios in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, and Rome he explored and interpreted the styles of his favorite artists.

 

On the night of June 25, 1961 in the dark streets of Rome, he was killed during a robbery. With a fatal stab wound to the throat, Salto died, but  was immediately reincarnated. Transported to New York City, he found himself seated in a smokey audience at the Village Vanguard where the Bill Evans Trio was playing their last set. Seated next to him was the young Robert Motherwell.

 

Over the next decade, Salto would become a little known friend of the Irascibles, the soon to be famous American artists that would lead the Abstract Expressionist movement. Pollock, Ernst, and de Kooning were now his mentors. The German artist Francis Bott was also a major infuence. Salto's painting style would follow Hans Richter's famous insight for the possibility of expression: Give chance a chance.

 

Hundreds of paintings never seen by the public finally make into the open to be admired. As you browse through our site, just remember your eyes are the some of the first to ever have viewed this amazing collection of paintings.