Aldo Luongo, Argentinian (1941 - )

Aldo Luongo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1941, of Italian heritage. Since as far back as he can remember, Luongo had two great passions: art and soccer. Shortly after his graduation from the Academy of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires in the early 1960s, Luongo came to the U.S. to play professional soccer for the New York Cosmos. After his athletic career was cut short due to an injury, he arrived in New York City with a dream to pursue his artwork full time.

In the early 70's, he had his first major success with multiple reproductions of his black & white drawings. Aldo Luongo has to do drawings and paintings. He has received numerous awards and honors, including being named a 3-time official Olympic Artist (Summer 1988, Summer 1996, and Winter 2002); an official World Cup Artist (1998); an official U.S. Women's World Cup Artist (1999); and the 1999 Sports Artist of the Year (U.S. Sports Museum.)

For the past 25 years, Romantic impressionist Aldo Luongo has won critical acclaim from around the globe for his unique ability to express love, passion and sport in a brilliant and distinctive Post-Impressionist style. Says Luongo, "I attack a canvas like I play soccer — with vigor. Soccer is my counterpoint to painting. While painting, I'm confined, lonely, enmeshed in emotions and self-doubt. Then comes the sweat and focus of a really good game and I feel whole again. Life is a matter of balance." For Luongo's unique approach and style in his artistic endeavors, he was selected as the American Sport Art Museum and Archives' 1999 Sport Artist of the Year.

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Luongo was an official artist of the 1980 and 1996 Olympic Games in the United States. He has a passion for life that is evident in his work and the way he lives. The "romantic impressionist" painter uses the canvas to capture little pieces of ordinary life. He mostly paints the human figure, capturing people in their natural surroundings and in everyday situations. He has also painted many works of athletes in competition, in sports from basketball to soccer to track and field. In a unique fashion found only in Luongo, he captures the athletes in motion in their sport.

Though Luongo is considered one of the world's great contemporary artists, his path has not been narrow and direct. He entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Argentina at fourteen, but his childhood dream was to follow in his father's footsteps as a professional soccer player. This dream was actually fulfilled when he played for the New York Cosmos. His career was cut short, however, due to injury.

Luongo finally settled in and started painting full time in 1968. He created 30 paintings, an extraordinary number, that year. Since then, he has become widely accepted and critically admired. He has twice been chosen to paint eggs for the White House Easter egg hunt, which are now a part of the Smithsonian collection.

Aldo Luongo and his art evoke true emotion with every canvas. He describes his work as possessing strength, vibrancy, and feeling. For him the real journey is told by Aldo's most recognizable image, Aguilucho or The Hawk, a self portrait of the artist, himself, with the character of the ultimate old man, "my future self." The Hawk is a personage who has evolved through time and was designed as a homage to his father. In each of his paintings, The Hawk is a symbol of a spiritually rich life. He was never meant to resemble Luongo's father physically but to personify his spirit. The Hawk as described the artist, has only ten or 15 minutes left on the clock of life but continues to live life the fullest. People have responded so positively to The Hawk that Luongo has had numerous requests for commissions from people who would like their future self painted with The Hawk.

Interestingly, The Hawk was not originally painted to be shown, but more as a personal project. However, a delivery man, while picking up paintings from the studio, mistakenly included the first Hawk portrait in the load. Before Luongo noticed it missing, the original was sold, beginning a theme and character that the world has grown to love.