The Italian Ambassador to Brazil, Alessandro Cortese, yesterday inaugurated the exhibition 'Oltreoceano. 150 years of Italian-Brazilian art'.
Testifying to the success of the exhibition held as part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of Italian immigration to Brazil, more than 300 people attended, including authorities from the political and institutional world, journalists, cultural personalities, and numerous Ambassadors and diplomats.
"This exhibition, in addition to having an artistic value of absolute worth, holds above all a very important symbolic and historical meaning," said Ambassador Cortese. "It is concrete proof of how Italian immigration to this country has influenced Brazilian culture, as well as many other sectors, from economics to politics to science and society in general. The title 'Oltreoceano' (Overseas) evokes the hope for a better life, which moved the millions of migrants who, from the end of the 19th century, decided to leave their affections and places of origin, in search of a new land where they could start their lives anew,' he concluded.
The 37 works, displayed on the famous glass trestles designed by architect Lina Bo Bardi for the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), include masterpieces by iconic artists such as Alfredo Volpi, Eliseu Visconti, Giorgio Ceschiatti and Anita Malfatti. But it is in particular the four panels by Candido Portinari, from the collection of the Italian Embassy, that attract the attention of the many enthusiasts. The works, commissioned in the 1930s by the then Ambassador in Rio de Janeiro, are in fact being exhibited today for the first time to the public.
The Brasilia exhibition, organised by the Italian Embassy in collaboration with the Mixed Brazil-Italy Parliamentary Front, will remain open daily, free of charge, to visitors until Sunday 14 July.
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