"Splitting Them Up" by Jo Abbrescia

(1936 - 2005) Oil on masonite; 11"H x 14"W, frame 21" x 18". Signed lower left. Signed again and titled in ink on verso. As a teenager, Joe began attending art classes at the Chicago Art Institute and completed his formal training at Chicago's American Academy of Art under the direction of William Mosby. During his tour in the U. S. Army, he served as an illustrator in Anchorage Alaska, and it was there that he began teaching art, as well. Following that he worked as a commercial artist in a major art studio in Chicago. In 1965, he founded the Village Art School in Skokie, Illinois. His unique teaching methods and ability to communicate resulted in escalating enrollments. He remained the Director of the School until 1976, during which time he continued to teach and paint and sell his work in the Chicago area and to establish a market in the West.