Milo and Leo Castelli

In 1996 I was a guest at the late

Leo Castelli
an significant art dealer

I'd had a one-off exhibition on Green street which he had come to, it was only a stone's throw from where his office was.

His family is from Trieste, Istria, originally - a town in Italy by the croatian border. He could still hold up a conversation with me in croatian, the language he had learned to speak as a child.

We spoke of Budapest and Vienna often. I was at his office frequently and made heaps of sketches, photos and studies for later portraits during that time.

He was a fascinating subject to me and even knew my mentor Josef Beuys.

Castelli was arguably the most popular and celebrated dealer and patron of the arts in his day. We made plans for numerous projects, but his health was unfortunately deteoriating so I didn't get as much time with him as I would have liked to.

Some portraits of his I painted in that period have been completed, while others still will be published on this website.

Leo sadly passed away in the summer of 1999. My portraits are some of the last remaining public mementos to him.