Paintings

Painting was the mainstay of Louis Fulgoni’s career as a fine artist. He made many works in other media, notably collages in the 1970s and masks in the 1980s, and he became increasingly interested in printmaking over time. But he always painted, from his early days at the School of Visual Arts to the final year of his life.

Untitled, oil on board, c. 1960. • View from the front yard of the house on Dutchess Avenue, Staten Island, where the Fulgoni family lived from the mid-1940s until 1958.
Untitled, watercolor with ink on paper, late 1950s. • Cape Cod scene, likely student work done at the School of Visual Arts, where Louis earned a bachelor’s degree in illustration. This piece hung in the Fulgonis’ living room on Staten Island.
Untitled, oil on board, late 1950s. • The provenance of this painting is unknown, but it is likely student work from Louis's four years earning a bachelor's degree at the School of Visual Arts. It is one of his few signed paintings (upper right).
Untitled, oil on board, c. 1966. • The man sitting on the wall in this signed painting is Louis’s uncle John Costello. The bocce ball in the foreground would reappear as an abstract sphere in many later works.
Untitled, oil or acrylic on canvas, late 1960s. • Modeled on an advertisement for an over-the-counter cold and flu medication, this image recasts the subject as a noblewoman in a Renaissance portrait.
Portrait of Donald, acrylic on canvas, c. 1972. • The subject, Donald Litaker, was Louis's boyfriend for a brief period immediately before Louis met Michael McKee, his life partner from the early 1970s onward.
Self-portrait, acrylic on canvas, late 1970s. • This painting, which depicts the artist in his early thirties, was destroyed in the 1970 fire that consumed Louis's studio on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. He’d had it photographed before the blaze.
“Moxie’s Rainbow,” oil and silver paint on canvas, 1974. • This painting was inspired by a rainbow that Louis and Michael McKee saw over Chilmark Pond in Martha’s Vineyard, on a summer visit with Moxie, an affluent older friend of Michael.
Portrait of Shirley, watercolor on paper, 1975. • A friend of Louis’s from his Chelsea neighborhood, Shirley Stoler acted in several distinctive films during the 1970s, notably the “The Honeymoon Killers,” “Seven Beauties” and “The Deer Hunter.”
“David, 1976,” oil on canvas, 1976. • Initially entitled “Perseus and Andromeda” and later renamed for unknown reasons, this piece was inspired by a Tiepolo maquette that was one of Louis’s favorite paintings at the Frick Collection.
Portrait of Pat, oil on board, mid-1960s. • Louis befriended the subject, Pat Gallagher, in the early 1960s. The two shared a love of theater and often attended shows together in New York.
Self-portrait, oil on board, early 1960s. • This is among the first of many self-portraits Louis produced in various media over time. It appears to date from the period just after he completed his studies at the School of Visual Arts.
Portrait of Frank, oil on board, early 1960s. • Louis's first serious boyfriend was an Irish American in his early twenties. They met around 1961 and rented an apartment together in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Untitled, oil on board, c. 1960. • This early painting, probably based on models Louis drew from life at the School of Visual Arts, is notable for its inclusion of male and female nude figures.
Untitled, oil, gesso and aluminum paint on canvas, c. 1967. • Louis painted this portrait/caricature of President Lyndon Baines Johnson while Johnson was still in office. He sold it to his upstairs neighbor in Chelsea, Jack Holly.
“Nixon,” acrylic on canvas, mid-1970s. • This painting of the disgraced president was probably made after his resignation in 1974. Louis sold it to attorney Mitch Alter, who was a young civil rights and housing rights advocate at the time.
“Inside-Outside,” oil on canvas, late 1960s. • This painting depicts a window in the apartment where Louis lived above the Angry Squire bar on Seventh Avenue in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.
“A Mask of May,” oil and silver paint on canvas, 1968. • The subject, well known avant-garde collagist and sculptor May Wilson, was in her sixties and Louis was 30 years her junior when they met and became friends in New York.
Self-portrait, oil on canvas, late 1960s. • Because this painting was hanging in Louis apartment in 1970, it escaped the studio fire that destroyed much of his other work that year.
Untitled, acrylic on canvas, late 1960s. • Based on a photocopied close-up image of the artist's thumb-and-handprint, this image carries a distinct Pop Art influence.
Untitled, self-portrait, acrylic on canvas, 1971. • Image provided by Donald Litaker, a boyfriend at the time, to whom Louis dedicated the painting in a note on the back of the canvas.
Untitled, acrylic, gesso and silver paint on canvas, 1974. • Louis was working on this painting in his home studio on February 6, 1974, the day he and Michael McKee met. The next day, they met for dinner and embarked on their life together.
Untitled, acrylic and silver paint on canvas, c. 1974. • Louis’s paintings grew increasingly pointillist in the 1970s, as shown by this work. Louis's upstairs neighbor in Chelsea, Jack Holly, purchased the piece.
“Sunset from the Badlands,” oil and silver paint on canvas, mid-1970s. • Sunset view from the Badlands bar on Christopher Street in the West Village, one of Louis’s regular haunts in this period.
Untitled, acrylic and gesso on canvas, c. 1975. • One of the series of pointillist circles and ovals Louis painted in this period.
“Boom,” oil and gesso on canvas, 1983. • Louis and Michael attended the Brooklyn Bridge centennial celebration on the evening of May 24, 1983, and watched the fireworks from a vantage point in City Hall Park, Manhattan.
Untitled, acrylic on canvas, late 1970s. • Louis sold this painting to an ex-boyfriend and was later surprised to see a very similar image on the cover of the Playbill for a Broadway show.
Untitled, acrylic on canvas, mid-1970s. • A variation on the circular motif found in a series of pointillist works Louis painted in the 1970s and '80s, this painting was one of a matched set (see adjacent image).
Untitled, acrylic on canvas, mid-1970s. • A variation on the circular motif found in a series of pointillist works Louis painted in the 1970s and '80s, this painting was one of a matched set (see adjacent image).
Untitled, acrylic on plexiglass over canvas with silver paint, c. 1977. • Probably the only piece in which Louis incorporated plexiglass, this painting was loosely based on the rounded windows in his lover Michael McKee’s former apartment.
“Geronimo 1909,” acrylic on canvas, late 1970s. • Louis may have painted this piece to mark the 70th anniversary of the renowned indigenous leader's death as a federal prisoner in Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Untitled, oil and silver paint on canvas, late 1970s. • Although Louis never formally named this work, he often referred to it as his “broken rainbow” painting, based on a dismissive remark his father, Adolph, made about the piece.
Untitled, acrylic and silver paint on canvas, 1979. • Inspired by the view from a return flight to New York on a winter day, Louis painted this image after his only visit with his lover Michael McKee’s extended family in Texas.
“Marianne, Gini and me,” oil on canvas, c. 1978. • On a summer visit, Louis and two friends had been out all night drinking in the Hamptons. They arrived at Amagansett Beach just before sunrise, and Louis painted this image soon after seeing it.
Portrait of Michael, acrylic and silver paint with glitter on canvas, c. 1978. • Michael McKee and Louis had been together for several years when Michael sat for this portrait.
Portrait of Carl, oil on canvas with silver paint and glitter, c. 1978. • The subject, Carl Frisk, was Louis’s next-door neighbor in the West 21st Street building where he lived in the 1970s and ’80s. A ship’s steward, Carl was often away at sea.
Self-portrait, oil and silver paint on canvas, c. 1980. • Two pairs of watchful eyes frame Louis's face in this stylized image.
Untitled, oil and silver paint on canvas, mid-1980s. • One of a series of paintings and prints based on the yantra – a design intended to aid meditation in the Tantric tradition of Indian religions.
Untitled, oil on canvas, mid-1980s. • One of a series of paintings and prints based on the yantra, a design intended to aid meditation in the Tantric tradition of Indian religions.
Untitled, oil and gesso on canvas, mid-1980s. • The diagonal composition that distinguishes this piece would be repeated in Louis’s penultimate painting, completed in late 1988.
Untitled, acrylic and gesso on canvas, c. 1980. • Part of a triptych of paintings on small canvases (see adjacent images).
Untitled, acrylic and gesso on canvas, c. 1980. • Part of a triptych of paintings on small canvases (see adjacent images).
Untitled, acrylic and gesso on canvas, c. 1980. • Part of a triptych of paintings on small canvases (see adjacent images).
Untitled, acrylic on canvas with glitter, 1980s. • Louis may have painted this atypically dark self-portrait after his HIV diagnosis in 1987.
“Trump L.F.,” painted carboard with pencil, mid-1980s. • This piece depicts then-real estate developer and right-wing gadfly Donald J. Trump. The petulant pout evokes Louis's disdain for his subject.
“What I Did Last Summer,” oil on canvas, 1983. • Composite landscape inspired by a July 1982 road trip that Louis took with Michael McKee through the American west, including Colorado, Utah and Nevada.
“The Room in the Cube,” oil on canvas, 1983. • A triptych informed by Louis’s fascination with quantum physics, which also led to him doing conceptual illustrations for the journal Physics Today.
Untitled, oil on canvas, mid-1980s. • This cityscape at sunset, looking west in the Chelsea neighborhood, is reminiscent of a series of monoprints Louis also produced in the 1980s.
“Morgan le Fay,” oil and silver paint on canvas, early 1980s. • This image is based on a rainbow Louis saw in a dream – rendered as the crescent upper left.
“A Cast of Thousands,” acrylic and silver paint on canvas, c. 1980. • Its original palette faded by excessive sun exposure, this piece was on loan for several years to a neighbor who returned it to Louis in 1987, when the neighbor moved away.
Untitled, acrylic on canvas, late 1970s. • One of a series of pointillist works Louis painted in the 1970s and '80s.
“Olive Oil,” acrylic and silver paint on canvas, c. 1980. • Based on a dream, this painting includes a distinctive yellow patch that Louis added impulsively and decided to keep.
Eleanor 1, oil, silver paint and glitter on canvas, mid-1980s. • One of three paintings (see adjacent images) of “Eleanor,” the skull Louis named after Eleanor Roosevelt and kept in his home studio. In all three, she wears his signature fedora.
Eleanor 2, oil on canvas, mid-1980s. • One of three paintings (see adjacent images) of “Eleanor,” the skull Louis named after Eleanor Roosevelt and kept in his home studio. In all three, she wears Louis’s signature fedora.
Eleanor 3, oil and silver paint with glitter, mid-1980s. • One of three paintings (see adjacent images) of “Eleanor,” the skull Louis named after Eleanor Roosevelt and kept in his home studio. Here, she wears lipstick applied by kissing the canvas.
Untitled, oil, gesso and silver paint with pencil on canvas, c. 1980. • An enhanced perspective on one corner of Louis's home studio, which was in the spare bedroom of his apartment on West 21st Street, Manhattan.
“Sunset from Aunt Peggy’s, Nov. 1, 1981,” oil on canvas, 1982. • Louis’s aunt lived upstairs in his mother’s house on Staten Island. The left panel depicts her view eastward towards the Atlantic; the right panel shows the sunset over New Jersey.
Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 1988. • Louis’s final self-portrait and one of his last paintings, this piece may have been inspired stylistically by El Viejo, a self-portrait he saw at Musée National Picasso-Paris during an October 1988 visit.
“First Black,“ oil and gesso on canvas, 1988. • Inspired by the view on a flight back to New York from Paris in October 1988, this is Louis's penultimate painting.
Untitled, oil and gesso on canvas, 1989. • Inspired by the view on a flight back to New York from Paris in October 1988, this is Louis’s final painting, finished shortly before his final illness and left on the easel in his home studio.