Alfonso Ossorio (b.1916, Manila, Philippines – d. 1990, New York, NY) was born in the Philippines to wealthy parents of Chinese, Filipino, and Hispanic ancestry. He moved to the United States in 1930. He studied at both Harvard University and the Rhode Island School of Design and then served in the military as a medical illustrator during the World War II.
His oil painting entitled “Beachcomber” (1953) is densely patterned with non-Western visual icons and images similar to the tribal art of Oceania which Ossorio admired at the Peabody Museum while an undergraduate at Harvard. The entire canvas is filled with endless sea of abstract forms, creating horror vacui, leaving a very little emptiness for viewers.
Image 1: Front cover of “Asian|American|Modern Art
Image 2: Alfonso Ossorio, “Beachcomber,” 1953, Oil on canvas, 84”x 144”
Asian American modern art : shifting currents, 1900-1970 Daniell Cornell and Mark Dean Johnson, editors ; Gordon H. Chang ... [et al.]. San Francisco, CA : Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco ; Berkeley : University of California Press, c2008. English HOLLIS number: 990117463940203941
