Mr. William Gambini

1918 - 2010

William Gambini, one of the last remaining artists from the influential New York School of abstract expressionism of the 1950s, died Jan 3. He was 91.

Mr. Gambini, who moved to San Diego in 1975 and remained a prolific artist and physically active until just before his death from heart failure, hobnobbed with some of the most prominent cultural figures of the mid-20th century.

Famed abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Franz Kline were among his friends in the New York City art scene of the 1950s.

But Mr. Gambini also could regale listeners with stories about his experiences around the world. He drank with Ernest Hemingway in a Havana bar during World War II and created watercolors for the author. When on leave from the Army in Paris at the end of the war, Mr. Gambini knocked on the door of Pablo Picasso, who was very appreciative of soldiers and let him stay in his studio three nights.

In the early 1950s, he painted murals with Diego Rivera in Mexico City and also did drawings for contemporary dance pioneer Martha Graham. He talked of working as an extra in a Hollywood movie in the 1940s with a young actress known as Norma Jeane Baker, who soon changed her name to Marilyn Monroe.

"This guy got around. He had story upon story upon story," said Jim Murray, a San Diego artist and longtime friend. "He was just an unbelievable character."

Mr. Gambini earned recognition in his own right. He had solo exhibitions at museums in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. His work was part of group exhibitions in Houston, Boston and Italy, among other places. His abstract expressionism won him prestigious grants from the Mark Rothko Foundation in 1975 and the Pollock/Krasner Foundation in 1999.

He was born Jan. 15, 1918, in Brooklyn, N.Y. He began drawing pastoral scenes at the age of 7 or 8 to create patterns for his mother, who did embroidery work at home. He studied art at the Brooklyn Museum of Fine Arts School and several other art schools in New York as well as at the Esmeralda Fine Arts School in Mexico City.

His move to San Diego, which he made with his wife and two children to escape the New York cold and to be near his Sicilian mother, cost him further acclaim and fortune, said Mark-Elliott Lugo, curator for the San Diego Public Library system.

Mr. Gambini was "brilliant but underrecognized" after the mid-1970s because he didn't live in a major art center, Lugo said.

"His work would hold up against anything in New York," said Lugo, who curated a full exhibition of Gambini's work for the library and included his art in several group exhibitions. Besides his talent with the abstract, Mr. Gambini was also a skilled figurative painter, Lugo said.

At age 91, Mr. Gambini continued to produce major art pieces, including a 4-foot-by-5-foot portrait of first lady Michelle and President Barack Obama. He passed the test for his driver's license on his 91st birthday.

"He was productive right up until the end," Lugo said. "He was so passionate and worked so hard day after day after day. There are not a lot of people that have that kind of fortitude and commitment."

Peggy Gambini, his wife of 52 years, said she has perhaps 1,000 of his paintings. Mr. Gambini never got rich from his work, she said. He worked odd jobs to support the family, but he always returned his focus to art.

"Art was very important and precious," she said. "The commercialization of art was beyond him. He wasn't a good businessman, I'll tell you that. He tried to be really fair about his prices."

The Gambinis frequently hosted all-night soirees in their San Diego home, where good food was plentiful, wine flowed freely and poets, painters and writers discussed music, art, culture and issues of the day, Peggy Gambini said. People who bought Mr. Gambini's works usually felt connected to the gregarious artist.

"Everybody who has his paintings are his friends," she said.

Murray, who considered Mr. Gambini his mentor, said he had a very generous spirit.

"His kindness was just unmatched," Murray said. "We've lost quite an individual here."

Mr. Gambini is survived by his wife, Peggy; a son, Vittorio Gambini of Carlsbad; a daughter, Elizabeth Heinz of Woodstock, N.Y; a sister, Aida Ingram of Norfolk, Va.; and three grandchildren.

A retrospective of Mr. Gambini's work will be displayed March 27 at Borelli Design + Cabinetry, 4421 Park Blvd., San Diego. He also has a permanent painting of the crucifixion and four abstract paintings of the seasons at the First Lutheran Church of San Diego, 1420 Third Ave., downtown.

Robert Krier: (619) 293-2241; rob.krier@uniontrib.com