Alberto Morrocco, R.S.A., R.S.W.

The canvas is original. On very close inspection there is a tiny surface abrasion in the extreme lower right corner. Otherwise in good original condition, clean and ready to hang. Ultraviolet light reveals no sign of retouching. Held in a simple wooden frame in fair condition. Under glass and unexamined out of frame.
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Alberto Morrocco was born in Aberdeen to Italian parents. His father had settled in the UK when he was twenty-one and his mother was brought to Scotland with her family from Southern Italy when she was three years old. The correct family surname is 'Marrocco'. Alberto's father, Domenicantonio Morrocco owned an ice-creamery in Aberdeen above which the family lived. When he first came to Aberdeen he did not speak English particularly well and when he asked the sign writer to put his name above the shop, the sign writer misspelt it an put an 'o' instead of an 'a'. His father never changed it.

Alberto was accepted to Gray's School of Art in 1932 at the unusually young age of fourteen. He studied there for six years under the tutelage of in particular James Cowie and Robert Sivell, the later having a dramatic influence on Alberto's career. It was Sivell who sparked his interest in the Italian Renaissance and this was to have a lasting impression on Alberto.

For many years he was the best-known and admired portrait painter in Scotland and his sitters included the HRH the Late Queen Mother. Equally is he known for his still lifes, landscapes and interiors scenes which all represent his love of colour and simplicity of composition. During his career Morrocco gave over thirty one man exhibitions both in London and all over Scotland. In recognition of his many achievements as an artist he was awarded an OBE in 1993. The Musician's Table is an exceptional example of the vibrant colour and simple form for which Morrocco is so rightly celebrated.