**Originally Listed At $300**

Manlio Moretto (Brazilian, 1917-2013). 3 Brazilian landscape paintings. Mixed media on paper, ca. 1983-1986. Two signed in lower right and one in lower left. A wonderful ensemble of 3 paintings by Brazilian artist Manlio Moretto, each depicting a Brazilian landscape: a view of the municipality Coronel Xavier Chaves, a cityscape with a group of people boarding a tram, and a group of gauchos on horseback. 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 largest without frame (all similar in size): 4.5" W x 2.9" H (11.4 cm x 7.4 cm); of largest with frame: 7.75" W x 6.5" H (19.7 cm x 16.5 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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#183383

Two are signed in lower right and one in lower left. All are set in custom, wooden frames with suspension hooks on verso for display; have not been examined outside of glass. Some light wear to frames, but paintings are in overall excellent condition. Verso of Coronel Xavier painting is inscribed with the artist name and place and stamped by a previous gallery.