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Hernando Today

Artist Caparello Dies After Surgery

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: January 10, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - Tony Caparello, the acclaimed artist who painted the "Brooksville Raid" mural in downtown Brooksville, died Friday after open heart surgery at the Morgan Heart Hospital at Morton Plant in Clearwater.

Mary Petricone, a family friend, called a reporter yesterday to inform the newspaper of his death.

Expecting that Caparello would recover from the surgery, Hernando Today intended to publish a story about a benefit his daughter Lisa Little was organizing to create a trust fund to assist the family.

The benefit will continue as planned, said Petricone, who sells Caparello's art in her Spring Hill gallery, Your Arts Desire. All proceeds from the sale of his art will go to family.

An already risky surgery was made more so because Caparello also was fighting a lung infection, Little said a few hours before the surgery Friday. Caparello had been ill for the last couple of months, as a chest cold progressed to bronchitis and then pneumonia, she said.

The heart problems surfaced during tests. Caparello, his wife Heidi, the couple's two daughters and other family members decided as a family on Thursday to go forward with surgery, Little said.

Word of the seriousness of Caparello's illness spread quickly through Hernando's art community in the last few days.

Petricone sent out an e-mail Wednesday to about a dozen people noting that a trust fund for the family is being set up to help the family defray medical expenses.

Caparello had insurance through Heidi's job as a dental assistant, but there will be costs that won't be covered, Little said. Caparello also had heart problems as child - he had his first open heart surgery at the age of 14 - and has never been able to secure a life insurance policy.

About five of Caparello's original pieces are still available and will start at about $1,800, said Petricone, who is suspending her commission fee.

"We didn't want them to be stressed out about money," Petricone said.

Lynne Simone, publicity chair for the Spring Hill Art League, forwarded Petricone's e-mail Thursday night to about 75 of the league's members and received several responses expressing a desire to help.

Caparello did regular artist workshops at Petricone's gallery. He didn't hold back in his lessons, she said.

"He would tell you everything he knew, every trick of the trade and that showed what a master he was," Petricone said. "He was very generous that way."

A native of Massachusetts, Caparello studied with masters such as John Sanden and Daniel Greene before a nine-year stint working on a literally giant scale: billboards. He excelled in portraiture and photorealism, skills on display in the "Raid" mural.

Caparello spent 10 years working as a painter and assistant to James Rosenquist, who helped found the Pop Art movement in the 1960s.

While he achieved photo-quality realism with the basic tools of oil, canvas and bristle brush, Caparello also weaved common images into visual metaphors to create a style he calls "dream logic."

His work has appeared in galleries, museums, universities and art centers throughout the country.

To find out more about the efforts to help Caparello's family, including information on the trust fund and the artwork available for purchase, call Petricone at 352-666-2734.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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