Born in 1940 to Italian parents and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aldo Luongo is know for the powerful, bold paintings and artwork he has created for decades. As a child, Luongo was passionate about two things – art and soccer. Luongo moved to the United States in 1964 to pursue a soccer career, but an injury forced him to focus on his artwork. In the early 1970s, he achieved commercial success with a number of solo exhibitions and reproductions of black-and-white drawings; he was also commissioned to paint eight high-profile portraits of stars such as Charlton Heston and Bill Cosby.

Luongo began experimenting with sports art in the late 1980s and was quickly rewarded for these efforts; he was an official artist of the Olympic Games in 1988, 1996, and 2002, and in 1999 the US Sports Museum named him Sports Artist of the Year. His creations have can be found in many private, public, and corporate collections around the world; just a few of his many fans are Kevin Costner, Dionne Warwick, Yul Brynner, and Rob Reiner.

Characteristic of all his work is a sense of intensity and fluidity and a balance between freedom and control. Influenced by French Impressionism and often categorized as a Post-Impressionist, Luongo explains, “Every artist adapts the best qualities of his favorite artists, but I’m always conscious of capturing bits of life, of reality, of situations, of people. It’s my space in time.” Perhaps the best example of Luongo’s style and passion is the recurrent presence of “Aguilucho” or “The Hawk” in his work. The image of The Hawk has developed throughout his career, but it’s most important meaning endures: it is a symbol of the memory of his father and represents the discovery of his future self. It is this passion, this memory, and this hope that has made Aldo Luongo’s work so powerful.