maureen fulgenzi
(American, b. 1950)
Born in Westchester, New York, Maureen Fulgenzi had desired at an early age to be an artist, and focused her efforts toward exploring and mastering her artistic skills. After graduating from the School of Visual Arts in New York City studying fashion illustration and advertising, she took on freelance positions, most notably with Sasson Jeans doing promotional design, and as an illustrator and sketch artist for various fashion publications.
Fulgenzi’s talents and pioneering spirit in the late 1970s propelled her into the hand-painted fabric and silk trend that sprang up in the New York couture scence, and her work was quickly picked up by high-profile department stores and boutiques nationwide.
Maureen brought both her technical expertise and innate color sense to create an application using silk dyes on fine fabrics, resulting in a standardized and branded design trademark within the fashion industry.
At the height of demand for her design skills and textile innovations, Fulgenzi went to work for Puritan Co. designing a men's line of engineered prints and women’s dresses for designer Diane Von Furstenburg. She then went on to produce her own line of clothing with hand-painted fabrics, forming Horito/Fulgenzi designs in 1982.
After much success with her design company, Fulgenzi ended her tenure in the fashion business in the early 1990s to pursue her desire to paint. She left New York City to isolate herself in the Hamptons, and later Italy. She then traveled throughout Europe, gaining new sources of inspiration and sophistication to her work.
For the past 20 years, Fulgenzi has lived and worked in West Palm Beach, Florida.
