Francesco Iacurto
(1908 - 2001)

F. Iacurto Biography
(1908 - 2001)

Born in Montreal, Quebec, of Italian parents, he began his studies in painting at the age of 12 at the Monument National of Montreal. In 1928 he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Montreal and received a teacher’s diploma that year, and subsequently was awarded a Quebec Provincial Government scholarship to study in Europe. He attended the Academie de La Grande Chaumiere, Paris and also the Colarossi.

He returned to Canada where he became a teacher at the Montreal Arts and Trades School and later with the Catholic School Commission. He moved to Quebec City about 1938 where he has did scenes of the city, landscapes of the Lower St. Lawrence, and many portraits. During his 1944 solo exhibition of portraits and landscapes at The Arts Club of Montreal ‘The Gazette’ noted, “The artist’s search for portrait subjects has taken him to many parts of the province, but the bilk of his other paintings are mainly of Quebec City which is so rich in paintable material, a major consideration when Iacurto elected to open his studio there. Here he has found much to interest him and his harvest has been rich…”

The following year he again exhibited at the Arts Club his small oils of Quebec City which were well received. His portrait of well-known waterfront man Leon Paquet who was then 71 years old and retired attracted much attention at the Morency art gallery in Quebec and was later exhibited in New York City with other of his works. In 1960 Iacurto exhibited his work at the Palais Montcalm, Quebec City, when the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph noted, “Mr. Iacurto, who uses Baie St. Paul, the Island of Orleans and Quebec City as a background for his paintings, has 45 new canvases on exhibition. His subjects range from landscapes and people to ships and other objects that appeal to his artistic eye.”

During his career he made many trips to Europe and exhibited and various centres there. In Canada he exhibited at the Royal Gallery, Montreal, Le Centre cultural de Verdun, Quebec, Palais Montcalm, and elsewhere. He is represented in Quebec Provincial Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, the Quebec Legislative Building and several other collections. Iacurto exhibited with he Royal Canadian Academy, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Ontario Society of Artists and others.

Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume II”, compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1979