GERALD DONATO

DONATO, Gerald, a talented, widely admired, and much beloved painter, whose work anticipated important art-historical developments, died February 14, after an extended illness. He was 68. Mr. Donato was a professor in the Department of Painting and Printmaking at Virginia Commonwealth University for 38 years. He was named Professor Emeritus following his retirement in 2005. He played a significant role in the success of his department, inspiring countless students over the years. Mr. Donato was born in 1941 in Chicago, Illinois. He earned MA and BS degrees from Northern Illinois University and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He came of age just following the Beat Generation and during the rise of the hippie revolution - ideological forces that clearly influenced his work. According to colleague and fellow painter Richard Roth, Mr. Donato had a non-hierarchical interest in everything visual. He looked with equal seriousness at the work of Renaissance master Piero della Francesca and American painter, Philip Guston, at student drawings and images from popular culture. He freely borrowed passages and images from the history of painting and from material culture at large, radically transforming these elements through his own vibrant blend of abstraction and figuration. Mr. Donato married the painter Joan Gaustad in 1975. They were a dashing, dynamic and enchanting couple, full of life, dedicated to art, and each other's artistic muses. Jerry was a founding member of 1708 Gallery, one of the area's most important contemporary-art venues. Together, in many other ways, they were longstanding supporters of the arts in Richmond and actively fostered the vital community of artists for which this city is now well known. The couple received the Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the tenth annual Theresa Pollak Prizes for Excellence in the Arts. A retrospective of Mr. Donato's work, accompanied by a major catalogue, was organized by VCU's Anderson Gallery in 2007. Solo exhibitions were also presented by the Reynolds Gallery and 1708 Gallery, Richmond; Hunt Gallery, Mary Baldwin College, Staunton, Va.; the University of Texas Gallery, San Antonio; and the Kathryn Sermas Gallery, New York City, among other venues. His work was featured as well in numerous group exhibitions, including Un/Common Ground: Virginia Artists 1988 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA); Surrealism Continued at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Painting in the South at the Sarah Moody Gallery, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; and in galleries in Brussels, Lima, and Moscow. Mr. Donato received two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (painting and prints/ books/drawings) and a VMFA Professional Fellowship. His work is represented in various public, corporate, and private collections, including the VMFA; SECCA; The Federal Reserve Bank, Richmond; Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia; Loyola University, Chicago; Ohio State University, Columbus; University of Utah, Salt Lake City; and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is survived by his wife, Joan Gaustad; his twin brother, James Donato and wife, Anne Donato, of Chicago; his niece, Lisa Donato and husband, Jeff Rose of Indianapolis; his nephew, Daniel Donato and wife, Alexandra See of Los Angeles; his sister, Theresa Donato of Chicago; his mother-in-law, Marj Gaustad of Hampton, Va.; his sister-in-law, Patti Procopi, husband, Greg Procopi; nieces, Allie, Elena and Leah Procopi of Gloucester, Va.; and his brother-in-law, John Gaustad, wife, Kathy Gaustad; and nephew, Nick Gaustad of Weed, California. A celebration of the life of Gerald Donato will be held on Sunday, February 21, 3 p.m., at the Plant Zero Art Center on East 4th Street in the Manchester District. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Gerald Donato Scholarship Fund, VCU School of the Arts, 325 N. Harrison Street, P.O. Box 842519, Richmond, Va. 23284.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.