Adolf Henry Degiani Aldrich
American, 1916 - 2010
Adolf Henry Degiani Aldrich was born in 1916 in Springfield, Mass. In 1931, at age of 21, chosen to participate in federal WPA project, he exhibited a “woodcut” at the George W. Smith Art Museum in his home town. The following year, 1938, his “woodblock” was selected for inclusion in a National Print Exhibit at the Federal Art Gallery on Beacon Street in Boston. In 1939, he was awarded First Prize for an oil painting by the Springfield Art League. Showing continuing versatility, he won First Prize in Sculpture at the First Annual Art Exhibit sponsored by the Storrowton, Massachusetts Art Council in 1941. Events/Years of World War II necessitated a hiatus or pause in art work while he served as Merchant Seaman in both the European Theater and the Pacific. Following the war, he continued to win prizes for work. He received special mention for an etching, Air Attack, at the National Maritime Union Exhibit at the ACA Gallery in New York City in 1945; First Prize for another etching, Girl on Firescape, from the Springfield Art League in 1949; First Prize for a watercolor, NJ Beachfront, also from the Springfield Art League in 1950. During 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, he used art and design skills as an illustrator with Liberty Magazine, being among his clients. He was also a movie art director and painted backdrops for the Miss Universe Pageant in Peru in 1984, and he painted murals in various public and private venues. In retirement in Pennsylvania in 1990s, he returned to painting and completed dozens of canvases in his unique and vibrantly colorful style. Primarily these were portraits of female models and friends, some nudes and some clothed. The artist has lived in Springfield, Greenwich Village, Hudson River Valley/Upstate NY and currently resides in Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania where he designed and built a house in mid 1980s.