Dan Rico: A Pioneer of American Pop Art and Wood Engraving Dan Rico, a name perhaps less familiar than some of his contemporaries in the Golden Age of comics and illustration, nevertheless represents a significant and often overlooked figure in American art history. Born Donato Francisco Rico II in Rochester, New York, on September 26, 1912, into an Italian immigrant family steeped in artistic tradition – his father a shoe designer hailing from Celano, Abruzzi, and his mother from the Basilicata region – Rico’s early life laid the foundation for a career that would span wood engraving, comic…