American, b. 1952

Frank Corso was born in Syracuse New York. Taking a keen interest in art at a very early age, he was inspired to draw and paint the landscape of the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York. He had the opportunity to have very fine art teachers in high school who also happened to be fine painters, artists George Benedict and Nick Todisco, and through their influence he began to polish his painting style from an early age. 

After attending Onondaga Community College for architecture, and then realizing that the rigid structure of architecture was not for him, he began elective courses in Fine Arts at Syracuse University, and there, for the first time he began to study abstract painting and design with professors Frank Goodnow and others to broaden his horizons in painting. It was there where he also began working with etching and lithograph printmaking.

Never losing sight of traditional landscape painting, Frank then began to focus more on an art career and began private study in portrait and figure painting with Austrian born portrait painter, Robert Hoffmann. There he was able to hone in on the discipline of technique and begin to study portrait painting from a professional artist, learning painting technique impossible to find in traditional schools. This association lasted for over eleven years.

Frank Corso began to travel and paint extensively around the country and eventually to Europe, focusing his attention on Italy. As time went on, he continued study with other portrait painters such as Daniel Greene of New York and Jack Callahan of Rockport, building on the foundation he gained with Robert Hoffmann. Corso felt that the way to gain knowledge of landscape painting was through portrait painters. He would then apply his skills to landscape painting, enabling him to forge his own style.

Around 1980, he relocated to the North Shore of Massachusetts, where there has always been a thriving art scene. He achieved master status at the Copley Society in Boston and began to receive many awards for his work, including The Yankee Sagendorf Award and the Grumbacher Medal. His paintings have been included in “The Best of Oil Painting” and the “Best of Pastel” hard cover art books by Rockport Publishers.  Featured articles have been included in “Sea History Magazine” and Southwest Florida's "Expressions" magazine.

Corso still spends some time in coastal Massachusetts where he maintains a home and studio, in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, and at his home in Southwest Florida. Corso continues to take various painting trips around the country and Europe, where he has painted from Sicily to Tuscany. More recently, he was invited to conduct a weeklong Artist in Residence program at the esteemed Pitcher Inn in Warren, Vermont where he painted, gave talks and demos and finished the week with a two-hour concert.  

Frank Corso’s other interests include being a professional Blues and Old-time musician, having released three CDs with his band Roll and Tumble and a fourth Solo CD with guest musicians. He is currently at work on a new solo CD project.  Frank also has built his own guitars and banjos and has restored and maintains his award winning 1933 Plymouth coupe and 2008 C6 ZO6 Corvette. His paintings are sought by collectors and hang in many private and corporate institutions around the world including the Ritz Carlton, Tiburon Golf Resort, Naples Florida, State Farm Insurance, Nantucket Golf club, The Cloister, Georgia Sea Island, and many others.