Candido Portinari

Candido Portinari, one of Brazil's most important painters, was a man who truly embodied his art. Born on a coffee plantation to Italian immigrants, he left school after the third grade but went on to create over 5,000 works, from small sketches to monumental murals for the UN. Rumor has it that his artistic journey began by painting portraits from photographs to make ends meet. He was a man of contradictions. A trip to Paris, the heart of the art world, paradoxically made him realize his true subject was his homeland, Brazil. He returned with a passion for depicting the struggles and spirit of its people. Another rumor whispers that his larger-than-life figures with oversized hands and feet were a direct, and perhaps cheeky, commentary on the value of manual labor. His powerful social commentary didn't always sit well; one archbishop even condemned a church fresco, declaring it looked more like "the devil's bomb shelter." Ultimately, Portinari's dedication was his undoing; he died from lead poisoning from the very paints he used to bring his vision to life.