Basil Racheotes was born in 1953, the son of Greek immigrant parents, raised in a working class neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The youngest of three boys, he attended public schools and after graduating from Boston Latin School got his BFA from Brandeis University in 1974. There he studied sculpture under Peter Grippe who encouraged him to attend the New York Studio School, which he did from 1974 – 75. Studying at the Studio School with George Spaventa, Peter Agostini, and Reuben Nakian, he sharpened his skills in modeling from life, mould making and casting. In 1977 he and fellow NYSS student, photographer Donald Ross, working out of their NYC studio, became full time assistants to Nakian. At this time while Ross inventoried and photodocumented all of Nakian’s new works (and a huge collection of his older original works in terracotta, plaster and bronze) Racheotes focused on enlarging Nakian’s clay maquettes to monumental scale, working in direct plaster. This studio assistanceship continued until the sculptor’s death in 1986 at age eighty-nine. He maintains a working relationship with the Nakian Estate to this day.
Concurrent with his collaboration with Nakian, Racheotes created his own works, primarily in terracotta. Examples of these early works are the studio still lifes created from 1978 – 80.
Returning to the figure Racheotes focused on more fragmentary and impressionistic imagery, pigmenting the clay with underglazes or dry pigments to achieve a natural earthen quality.
His work was shown in many NYC galleries at this time.
Starting in 1987 and for several years until their closing he exhibited many various-sized clay figures as well monumental plasters at Bologna/Landi Gallery in East Hampton, Long Island. He also exhibited at ART/PLACE Gallery in Southport, Connecticut for several years. He currently works out of his studio in Fairfield, Connecticut and can be reached at [email protected]