**Originally Listed At $250**

Manlio Moretto (Brazilian, 1917-2013). 2 Brazilian landscape ink wash drawings. (1) "Parati" and (2) "Praia Das Farinhas (Santos)" 1989. Both signed with title and year near lower edge. A lovely pair of ink wash drawings by Brazilian artist Manlio Moretto, each depicting a Brazilian landscape: a view of a church in Paraty and a beach scene in the Santos municipality of the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo. Manlio Moretto was a self-taught artist born in Sao Paulo in 1917 to Italian immigrants. While studying Civil Engineering at the USP Polytechnic school, he met the famous Brazilian artist Edgard Oehlmeyer who convinced him to take up painting. During almost half a century, Manlio recorded over 1000 unprecedented landscapes, distributed across 15 states and 110 Brazilian cities. Size of drawing (both the same): 5.1" W x 3.1" H (13 cm x 7.9 cm); of frame: 9.5" W x 7.5" H (24.1 cm x 19 cm)

According to the "Cultural Legacy" section of Manlio Moretto's website: "Manlio Moretto's art should not be seen in a certain aspect, but in several: historical, architectural, romantic and iconographic. Contrary to what many imagine, it has nothing to do with Debret or Rugendas, who were in Brazil to portray the customs of the native people. Moretto did not intend to paint Brazil, although over the years it turns out that he did. Another aspect is the recovery of memory, when he portrays a Brazil that is ostensibly disappearing. Many of the places he recorded no longer exist, at least with the appearance they had when they were recorded.

The transmission of Beauty, in Manlio Moretto, is felt in the warm colors he employs and, in some cases, in the nuances of a single tone, which makes many praise the poetry he imparts to realism. SOCIARTE (Society of Friends of Art of Sao Paulo), upon realizing this romanticism, chose him as 'The Master of Brazilian Landscaping.'

In his work, Manlio Moretto assumes an attitude of total responsibility towards art - rejecting copies and the use of a camera. Its romantic expression has a unique sense of peace.

Manlio Moretto, when portraying landscapes, almost always places a church in the scene - which led many, in fine arts salons, to ask him why this was the case: 'The church identifies and characterizes the location portrayed, leaving no doubt regarding its authenticity. Hypothetical landscapes I call them Moretopolis,' responds Moretto.

Manlio Moretto keeps field sketches in his personal collection, recorded in 22 notebooks and an album, containing a total of 1300 unpublished places; thus constituting, probably, the greatest Brazilian pictorial iconographic work."

Provenance: private Westminster, Colorado, USA collection

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#183386

Both are signed with title and year near lower edge. Set in custom mattes and frames with suspension hooks on back. A few minor scuffs to frames. Neither have been examined outside of glass but both appear to be in excellent overall condition.