Portrait of the Artist in 14 Photos -- #13

circa 1973

Another photo from our family collection.
A year shy of 70, Richard spends his final days on the sunny terrace of Villa Piazza Calda before shuttering the Montici workshop, saying a final “addio” to his home of a half-century, and moving into an apartment. There will be no more Montici art.

Not long after, Richard’s sister Adele Margaret dies. Richard has lost his father, mother, brothers, sisters. His Villa, and the Montici workshop are gone. His first wife is dead, his second is estranged from him, as is his son Richard Marco. In 1977, he leaves Italy for the last time, and returns to New York. On April 5, 1983, Richard Allmand Blow, 79, will die of a stroke in Manhattan. The New York Times obituary headlines his lasting artistic legacy: “Richard Blow, Artist; Revived Florentine Mosaic Technique.”