Biography

Biography, Narcissus Quagliata

Narcissus Quagliata was born in Rome, Italy in 1942 where he studied painting with the metaphysical painter
Giorgio De Chirico. At the age of 19, Narcissus moved to the United States and studied at the San Francisco
Art Institute receiving both a Bachelors and a Masters degree in Painting & Graphics. Soon after graduation,
he began working in glass and continues to use it as his principle form of artistic expression. Narcissus
Quagliata has twice received, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts for his work in the U.S.
Presently, his main residence is in Mexico, but he also works in the United States and Europe, as well as in
the far East.

Three areas are the focus of his artistic activity:
-The exploration of light and glass as vehicles of artistic expression
-A lifelong fascination with the figure
-An active interest in how art can impact our lives in private and public spaces

His fine art works, in glass and watercolors, have been exhibited and collected
by major museums and private collectors internationally .

During the 70’s and the 80’s and early 90’s Narcissus Quagliata executed over a hundred commissions
primarily in private residences, in the US, Europe
and Mexico, but starting from the mid 80’s he also began to integrate his work into public spaces.

Major public commissions:

Rotunda of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Rome , Italy: Dome of glass over the entry . A bold intervention of
contemporary art on an ancient site.
The building is the official state basilica for the Italian Republic. The basilica was designed by Michelangelo
and built over the Roman ruins of the baths of Diocletian. 1999’.

Grace Cathedral, San Francisco California;   “The Gift “ a fused glass window, very contemporary and state
of the art, for the north transept of the Cathedral, that completed the stained glass window program of the
Cathedral, ongoing for over fifty years. 2002’

Discovery Communication Headquarters. Silver Springs Md. “ A Brushstroke of Discovery” Mural, in In
the Washington DC metropolitan area.
60 meter wide mural ( 180 feet )on outside of building. Enamel on metal 2003’

Reforma 115, . Mexico City , Mexico . 2004’
office tower lobby, back lit glass mural . “ Return to the Cosmos” .
11 meters by 3 meters

Hotel El Santuario Valle de Bravo , Mexico
Dome of glass: “ La Seconda Innocenza”
8 meters diameter,   2006’

Major Museum Collections:
- Metropolitan Museum, New York, N.Y.
- The Renwick Gallery in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C.
- Modern Art Museum, Yokohama, Japan.
- National Glass Museum, Granja de San Ildefonso, Segovia, Spain.
- De Young Museum, San Francisco, California.
- Oakland Museum, Oakland, California.
- 1995 – Major Retrospective at The Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico City.

Current work in progress:
For the last three years Narcissus Quagliata has been devoting himself almost exclusively to the invention
and realization of a   30 meter in diameter dome
( 100 feet ) , to cover the main metro station , now under construction, of the city of Kaoshiung , Taiwan.
This artwork will define a new city center plaza at the concourse level of this square.
This project , monumental in size , ( 670 sq meters, 7200 square feet ) aims to reshape, through art , the
image that this city has of itself, from exclusively industrial to a center for art and culture as well.
The dome is the centerpiece of a citywide effort of renewal, centered on the construction of a thirty seven
station rapid transit system loaded with public artworks.

PUBLICATIONS

"Narcissus Quagliata Painting with Light" , was published by il Cigno Galileo Galilei in Rome Italy. It
contains photographs of many of the images that are presented here, along with others that are available on
the market. The text is written in three languages: English, Spanish and Italian. This book was published at
the Occasion of Narcissus Quagliata´s, a Retrospective Exhibit at the Museum Franz Meyer in Mexico City.
The book contains 115 pages of color images. Further information and orders for the book can be obtained
through his E-mail address: