Biblical Landscape with Adam and Eve

Victor Joseph Gatto, an Italian Catholic, rarely attended church, but he painted several fantasy images based on biblical characters. A former featherweight boxer, Gatto had no formal art training and created form and depth in his pieces by piling on the paint, layer by layer, with quick brushstrokes. Viewers and art collectors claim that Gatto could "evoke places and realms never seen by him and yet capture them with a brush." (Bess Barzansky, "Victor Joseph Gatto," Epstein/Powell Gallery, 2012)

Credit: Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr.