Creating a Difference

"Provincetown played a pivotal role in the development of modern art in the United States, and Salvatore Del Deo is a central figure in the story of the art colony." — Melissa Rehn, Curator Harvard HBS Collection. Creating a Difference Exhibit

Salvatore was born in 1928, the child of Italian Immigrants, Assunta Balsafiore and Giovanni-Romolo Del Deo He moved to Provincetown at 17 to study painting with Henry Hensche, and later with Edwin Dickinson. Having dedicated the rest of his life to painting there, he is now regarded as one of the iconic art community’s treasured artists, honored many times over in museums and gallery exhibitions. Salvatore has given generously, not only of his art, but also of his time to the community. With his wife Josephine and a circle of friends, he founded the Fine Arts Work Center and the Provincetown Heritage Museum. He also created the first program (a children’s art class at PAAM) to ever win a Mass Grant for the Arts. He helped Harry Holl found the Cape Cod Museum of Art and he co-founded the Cape Cod Regional Technical School.. Salvatore continues to create his chromatically rich paintings to this day.

“Remarkably, Provincetown still looks something like the way Josephine found it — a vibrant artists’ colony of modest, handsome buildings near untamed dunes — and today she gets much of the credit.” — Gareth Cook, The Lives They Lived, NY TImes

Born in 1928, Josephine was the daughter of fiber crafts pioneer, Osma Todd and NY School painter, Frank Couch. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa, St, Lawrence University NY and the Tyler School of Art in PA. She traveled to Provincetown in 1951 and never left, becoming a leader of activist causes. Josephine spearhead the creation of the National Seashore Park in Provincetown and the Fine Arts Work Center. Among her many other contributions were the Provincetown Historic District and the Provincetown Heritage Museum. Among her writings, the definitive biography of painter, Ross Moffett, “Figures in a Landscape,” and the personal history of the Provincetown National Seashore, “The Watch at Peaked Hill,” as well as a large collection poems, essays, plays and novellas. She passed away in the summer of 2016 at 90 years of age.

“Romolo's artwork exists on two levels: one of pure aesthetic balance and beauty, and another of mysterious and evocative narrative.” — Alexander Noelle, The Tides of Provincetown, New Britain Museum of American Art

Romolo, born in 1959, the son of Josephine and Salvatore Del Deo. As a teenager 18 he apprenticed marble carving with Prof Rino Gianinni of the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara and later the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. He graduated cum Laude from Harvard in 1982 and was subsequently joined the the Visual and Environmental Studies department faculty, as well as Artist-in-Rezsidency and Art Faculty at Adams House, Harvard. In the late 80’s he started exhibiting in SoHo NYC at the Ethan Cohen Gallery -Art Waves.in the 90’s by Bridgewater/Lustberg Gallery of Soho, and later Kouros Gallery of Midtown In 2015 he established the Studio Romolo Atelier for sculpture school . His work has been in numerous Biennales in Italy, and at the G7 of Art in Florence,. He has created the largest set of sculture art bronze doors executed in the US in this millennia, and the largest public sculpture on Cape Cod.

“Her photography is handsome and seriously good. Not just photos: each is an artistic message and beautifully taken.”

- Berta Walker/Berta Walker Gallery

Tatiana Del Deo's career spans diverse worlds and cultures. Born and raised in Vilnius, Lithuania during Soviet rule, she emigrated to the USA to learn about fashion and commerce. In 2001, working with editors at Harper’s Bazar and Vogue she helped introduce Moscow to western high fashion. Her transformative work led to an extended partnership with the groundbreaking Italian Stylist, Aldo Coppola. Always deeply invested in philanthropic work, she organized the restoration of the historic 17th century Temple of St. Theodore at Nkitsky Gate and in 2009 she began a series of cultural exchanges with India, Nepal, Thailand and the Kingdom of Mustang, which lead to a large format book, the Forbidden Kingdom of Mustang. In search of new challenges, in 2013 she met Romolo Del Deo. Together they began collaborating on projects, founding Studio Romolo Atelier. The synergy of Tatiana’s experience and visionary insight combined with Romolo’s creative depth, lead to establishing the Del Deo Foundation in 2020.