The Story of H. Hargrove- It began with a gift of colored pencils.

One of America’s most popular living artists, H. Hargrove was born Nicolo Sturiano in Marsala, Italy, in 1941. The gift of a box of colored pencils on his tenth birthday sparked his interest in art, but the pressures of economic practicality led him to pursue a degree in wine chemistry. In 1964, the young Italian immigrated to America and soon accepted a position with a winery in upstate New York.
Art, however, was never far from Nicolo’s personal agenda, and weekends would find him painting pictures of the weathered barns and covered bridges that dotted the landscapes of his newfound home. Before long, the winery’s management became aware of his talent and decided to display his art in the public tasting room. And when visitors showed more interest in his paintings than the wine, Nicolo knew that it was time to turn his passion into his profession.
In love with America, Sturiano earned his citizenship; enchanted with Americana, he adopted an American pseudonym under which to paint by opening a phone book, H. Hargrove. As his reputation grew, he found himself much in demand for personal appearances (and autograph sessions) before large audiences of art lovers. Subsequently, Hargrove became the subject of numerous magazine and newspaper articles, which in turn led to interviews on radio and television programs both local and national. High-level dignitaries and celebrities now number among his following.
Having begun his career by painting Americana, Hargrove has expanded his repertoire to include delicately-detailed still lifes, spectacular European landscapes, and privately-commissioned portraits. His work is collected across America and in Europe, and his collector base is constantly expanding. Renowned as a compelling visual storyteller, a veritable poet with a paintbrush, H. Hargrove epitomizes the quintessential story of the immigrant who achieves success by following—and ultimately living—his American dream.

American landscape painters often travel to Italy, seeking subjects along the sun-drenched Mediterranean countryside. But when 22-year-old Nicolo Sturiano came to the U.S. in 1964 as a Sicilian wine specialist, the rural American scenery seduced him into an art career.
Under the nom de plume of H. Hargrove, Sturiano has grown into an American treasure, with over one million works sold to date. An optimistic outlook permeates all H. Hargrove works, whether allegorical inventions, still lifes, country barns, imaginary scenes, seascapes, landscapes or other subjects. At heart, all of his paintings — regardless of their overt topics — revolve around and exalt and express an unshakable confidence in the essential goodness and strength of the human spirit.
By following his inspiration, the self-taught artist has enjoyed an exhilarating career journey. It began innocently and obscurely at a boutique vineyard in upstate New York, where Sturiano worked as a wine chemist, the trade he trained for in Marsala, Italy.
“The owners of the winery created a tasting room, and were looking for someone who could paint some images on the wall,” Sturiano recalls. “I volunteered, and painted panels of monks in various stages of wine making and tasting.”
Before long, visitor interest in the paintings overshadowed the wines, awakening Sturiano to the potential of a new career path. Enraptured with rural America, he began building a following with his paintings of barns, covered bridges and other scenes from upstate New York.
“My agent suggested I take a pen name, since he didn’t think Sturiano a good fit for my Americana paintings,” he explained. “So I opened a phone book, saw ‘Hargrove, H.,’ and decided that’s a good American name.”
Many collectors now request he autograph their paintings with both his given and assumed names.
Sturiano’s talent, eye for color and composition, skill and hard work launched him to many great honors, including television and radio appearances on national news programs, and commissions that include commemorative paintings for the Atlanta Olympic Games and the Women’s World Cup Soccer Tournament.
“My passion is still life, but in all of my paintings I strive to tell a story,” said the artist. “I have been called a storyteller and a poet with a brush.”