Leno Prestini

Leno Prestini (1906 - 1963) was an American painter and sculptor who was active from the 1920s through the early 1960s, mainly in the small town of Clayton, Washington. He worked as a professional terra cotta sculptor, creating architectural ornaments, and had many other interests as well. His skillfully rendered paintings, though reflecting contemporary trends such as Surrealism and Social Realism, were at times unique to the point of eccentricity. His work received limited acclaim in his lifetime, but has been the subject of several exhibitions, and has continued to attract attention since his death in 1963.

Leno Prestini was born Feb. 4, 1906, in the village of Besano in northern Italy, near the Swiss border. His parents, Luigi and Caterina Prestini, lived and worked in Switzerland for extended periods. In 1907 Luigi Prestini moved to the United States, finding work as a stonecutter in the granite quarries of Barre, Vermont; a year later, Leno, his mother, and his older brother Battista (b. 1905) followed. In 1911 the family relocated to Eastern Washington, joining a community of Italian-American artisans who worked for the Washington Brick Company in the town of Clayton, near Spokane. The company was renowned for the high quality of its handcrafted terra cotta cornices and decorative panels. Luigi Prestini worked at the plant until he died of pneumonia, following stomach surgery, in 1919; eventually, both Battista and Leno dropped out of high school and began working there.

Leno Prestini had shown artistic talent from an early age. By 1931 he was the company's chief modeler, creating distinctive architectural ornaments (which can still be seen on many buildings around the Pacific Northwest) and designing decorative tiles, which were marketed under the 'WACO' trade name. He had also developed a reputation as an eccentric and adventurous character, filling his free time with, among many other things, mountain climbing and exploring the bottoms of local lakes in a homemade diving suit.

...
Wikipedia