Michael Cummo’s creative talents have carried him through several careers. One of eleven children he was raised in New York City and learned early in childhood to express himself through art. Absent any formal instruction Michael mastered many of the art mediums before reaching his 16th birthday. By then a neighbor discovered his talent and arranged for him to meet an executive of a New York advertising agency. It was there that he began his career. In discovering the world of concepts and ideas his raw talents were opened in new directions. His ensuing successes led him to become creative director. Ultimately, Michael moved on to start his own agency devoting himself more and more to his true affection; painting and drawing. For him creating images that project both beauty and truth would become the foundation for his work.
Michael Cummo believes that: “The true and the beautiful belong together; it is a freely given superabundance of the human being's inner riches” he writes. “Inspiration and human skill are combined in the artist so as to give a valid form to something new, a previously unseen aspect of reality.” A graduate of La Salle Academy; The School of Visual Arts; New York University and a teacher, Michael became a member of the Society of Illustrators and was a pupil of The Arts Student League of New York in his early career. “Art is not an end in itself. It should uplift people, move them, improve them, and ultimately lead them. I feel as if the world of painting is just now beginning for me. You try things in painting . . . some of it works and some things you try fail, but you learn from all of it. The greatest teacher you have is the canvas itself. Sometimes you just have to stand before it and bleed.”
