In the Brazilian imagination, the lemon produced in the Sorrento Peninsula, southern Italy, is a symbol of the boot country.
This meant that the Italian artist Guido Totoli, 87, based in Brazil, had to reproduce the beautiful fruits several times in ceramics and panels commissioned by national restaurants.
In his home and studio in the Butantã neighborhood of São Paulo, the citrus yellow of Sorrento lemons mixes with so many other colors and shapes of Totoli's countless works, which also include paintings, sculptures and drawings, but, in an interview with ANSA, he admits that the countless reproductions of the fruit were just a way to pay the bills.
“To be honest, I don’t like painting lemons, but the expenses are high,” explains the artist, who arrived in Brazil in 1958 and became a reference in the Italian community, with works in institutions such as the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) and the São Paulo Parliament Art Museum. However, “since it is difficult to make a living from art,” he earned his living in the capital of São Paulo by producing advertising posters for many years.
Born in the “very beautiful” Mercato Cilento, in the province of Salerno, Totoli grew up surrounded by Greco-Roman monuments and in a house overlooking tourist attractions such as the Isle of Capri and the Amalfi Coast.
He studied “a little” about the arts in Italy, but it was in Brazil that he honed his talent with various techniques, meeting several painters of Italian origin. The list of masters includes famous artists, such as Alfredo Volpi (1896-1988) and Candido Portinari (1903-1962), as well as others less known to the public, such as Angelo Simeone (1899-1974) and Hugo Adami (1899-1999).
During the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Italian immigration to Brazil in 2024, an artist from Campania, one of the regions that sent the most immigrants to São Paulo, inaugurated a mural in the city of Amparo, São Paulo, entirely made of hand-painted tiles in his studio. The work depicts the passage of time, from the arrival of his countrymen by ship in 1874, through their contributions in areas such as agriculture, factories, industries, arts, music, theater, opera, and literature, to the present day.
“I contributed by bringing something from Italy, by representing my country well,” reflects Totoli, who was recently honored at the Italian Consulate General in São Paulo, which inaugurated a terracotta sculpture made by the artist to celebrate 150 years of immigration.
Despite having answered “more than 50 times” why he moved to Brazil, the Italian does not have an exact explanation.
He says that his brothers and other relatives immigrated to the United States after the end of World War II, where he was also supposed to go. However, since his fiancée, Pietra, moved to South America, he decided to follow her, whom he married in 1961.
The couple, who remain together to this day, had two Brazilian children. “I think it was destiny,” he concludes. (HANDLE)
