Enduring Art

The Procaccini collection is a testament to building connections with artists and purchasing with passion.

- John O' Hern

Nicholas Procaccini recalls his father being very creative, making beautiful patterns in the plaster ceilings of their tenement apartment. He was also a talented pianist, playing with the Jimmy Smith Trio until he realized he couldn’t make a living as a musician and turned to tool making.

Procaccini served in the Army in Vietnam. He joined as a private and was sent to officer school and served in the infantry. “It was the most significant experience for me. It gave me the opportunity to go to school and to develop a sense of responsibility and discipline,” he says. “One of the things I noticed on R&R in Australia was the presence of U.S. industry. I wanted to be part of that.” He received his MBA in international finance at George Washington University and then joined Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company. He spent his career with Pfizer, serving as managing director of its operations in South America and in Pakistan.

In Vietnam, he recalls being “too busy fighting” to take in the beauty of its arts and crafts, but he did buy two brass lamps. “I had a sense of what I liked,” he says. “I always liked art but couldn’t afford it until my career situation improved.