Joseph Reboli

Reboli has become, over the years, the ultimate local painter, as was William Sidney Mount, with a wide following of local collectors. . . . Unpretentious, untrendy, Reboli's perception has a contemplative attentiveness that is contagious.

Claire Nicolas

Village Times newspaper

October 2003

A Psalm of Life

TELL me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!—

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act,—act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Joe was noted for his luminous rendering of everyday scenes and subjects, infusing the mundane with an aura of wonder. No object was too familiar or humble foe his transforming touch. His canvases glowed with an unmistakable light.

Reboli painted and repainted the landscape and elements of it, continuously exploring light and form. Although he produced a series of cityscapes in the 80's and explored Italian landscapes in the 90's, he invariably returned to his primary subjects: the sites and structures of eastern Long Island and its environs.

He examined objects in the landscape - beaches, porches, chairs, trucks, gas pumps, highways, road signs, produce and flowers - whose forms and textures intrigued him. He captured his subjects with an emotional appeal that made others see the elements of the local landscape in a special light.

If anyone would like to share memories and anecdotes of Joe, please send written stories/recollections to:

Reboli Memorial Book

P.O. Box 2362

Setauket, NY 11733

Please be sure to include your name, address and the date.

The family has requested donations to the following organizations:

The Friends of Gallery North

90 North Country Road

Setauket, NY 11733

Long Island Cancer Center

SUNY - 7547

Stony Brook University

Stony Brook, NY 11794

Samaritans Purse

P.O. Box 3000

Boone, NC 28607