Salome - Oil on Canvas by Innocenzo Daraio 1970s
This is a wonderfully imaginative creation, with a real "only in Hollywood" touch of glamor and fantasy. The canvas measures 28" x 38" and the period 1970s frame is 37" x 46 1/2". In excellent condition.
This painting is from the collection of Dorothy Perry, a personal friend of Innocenzo Daraio and his family since 1972 when her family moved to Palm Springs, CA. Dorothy’s portrait was completed in the late 70’s, and then went on to execute this interpretation of Salome that Dorothy’s adopted daughter, Carinda, posed for. Carinda began as a typist for the Knickerbocker corporation when her stunning appearance caught the attention of executives looking for “The Pink Panther Girl” in the 60’s. At that point, Carinda was responsible for representing the Pink Panther at toy fair promotions throughout the United States. She also became a close friend of Innocenzo, and her appearance apparently added the touch of innocence he was looking for in depicting the woman whose seductive dancing prowess earned her the head of John the Baptist on a platter. However you read her, for the artist, she nailed it.
Born in Potenza, Italy, Innocenzo Daraio is known for his breathtaking murals, award-winning landscapes, classic portraits and religious art. His parents immigrated to New York in 1911, and he then spent five years learning to draw in charcoal and pencil before working with oils. A protégé of internationally known muralist, John Smeraldi, Daraio came with him to Los Angeles to work with him on such famous buildings as the Biltmore Hotel and St. Paul’s Cathedral. From there, Daraio worked for 22 years in Hollywood, most notably in the film industry painting backdrops for 20th Century Fox’s “The 10 Commandments”, “The Adventures of Marco Polo” and “Cleopatra”. (He also was later responsible for painting the famed mountain in Paramount Studios’ logo.)
Other noted works included a six-year stint painting murals in the Beverly Hills mansion of A. H. Giannini, the founder of the bank of Italy, and later The Bank of America; murals in Los Angeles’ St. Nicholas Christian Orthodox Cathedral, Temple of Israel, The Old Mission Plaza Church, and in Fresno’s St. George Greek Orthodox Church, a mural of Moses and the 10 Commandments (that he completed at age 77) that is 30 feet high and 24 feet wide.
