Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato

Well, I don’t know exactly what style it is. It’s painting [...] some say it’s primitive, others say it’s naïve or surrealist... don’t know... I just paint.

– Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato

Considered the seminal artist of his generation, Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato was drawn to the natural world and symbols of daily life. Largely a self-taught painter, Lorenzato developed a singular body of paintings centered on his fastidious observations of the everyday subjects he encountered in his hometown of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, depicting landscapes, still lives, and scenes from his neighborhood. His aim was not to replicate his environment but rather to translate it through a simplified vision of reduced geometric forms utilizing rich, handmade pigments and defined brush strokes. Lorenzato considered painting an everyday activity, a natural extension of himself, and “a form of spiritual survival.” 

Born to Italian immigrants, he began his artistic career as a painter’s assistant and studied fine arts in Vicenza. His European travels exposed him to the works of masters such as Matisse, Picasso, Cézanne, Courbet, Van Gogh, Monet, and Manet, significantly shaping his style. Returning to Brazil, Lorenzato focused on painting full-time following a leg injury in 1956. 

Though appreciated during his lifetime by his contemporaries, Lorenzato was long considered a regional artist, with his work remaining largely unknown outside of Brazil. The recent attention to Lorenzato’s work has led to an overdue re-examination of the artist and his place within the broader context of Brazilian modernism and international art history. 

Amadeo Luciano Lorenzato (b. 1900, Belo Horizonte, Brazil; d. 1995, Belo Horizonte, Brazil). 

Some of the artist’s solo exhibitions include Mendes Wood DM, Paris (2024); David Zwirner, New York (2024); Gomide&Co, São Paulo (2021); Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2020); David Zwirner, London (2019); S|2 Gallery, London (2019); Mendes Wood DM, New York (2019). 

Additionally, his work was included in group exhibitions such as: Mendes Wood DM, New York (2024); KARMA, Thomaston (2024); Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo (2024); Modern Art, London (2023); El Museo del Barrio, New York (2022); MASP, São Paulo (2022); Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, São Paulo (2020); Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo (2018); Bergamin & Gomide, São Paulo (2014); Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte (1995); Centro D’Arte La Bitta, Rome (1989); Petit Palais, Paris (1973).

His work has also been included in the 60th Venice Biennale (2024); 3rd Trinnale of Bratislava, Bratislava (1972). 

Lorenzato’s work features in collections such as Fiorucci Art Trust, London; Fundação Clóvis Salgado, Belo Horizonte; He Art Museum, Guandong; Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP), São Paulo; Museu de Arte da Pampulha, Belo Horizonte; Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, Monaco; Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo. 