Toroazul Painting and Fine Arts

C i t i e s  o f  L o v e Cartagena, Sao Paulo, Bahia, Asunción, and Miami

This painting of Cartagena, Colombia, was composed from sketches drawn "on site" during several trips to that old colonial port. I was also inspired in the earlier port city of Carthage on the Mediterranean, which, among other things, was the setting for the love story of the Roman hero Aeneas, and the Carthagenian queen, DIDO in Virgil's poem, The Aeneid,  written during the reign of the Emperor Caesar Augustus, c. 19 B.C.

Classical Cartagena (Colombia) 5 '  x  7' oil on wood 93 Private collection

B a h i a (Brazil) 30  "    x    40  " oil on canvas 1989 Private collection

Salvador, Bahia -- there is something of Jerusalem and of the river Ganges about this mystical yet most sensual of American cities. The day before the feast of Nosso Senhor de BomFim , I saw rows and rows of the Bahiana  women on their knees . . . dressed in white dresses and turbans, joyfully scrubbing the streets of the old town with perfumed water for a procession the following day.

Playa colorada (Venezuela) 18 "  x  14 " oil on canvas 1992 Private collection

I painted this view of Asunción, Paraguay, from an unsual angle -- Caballero Park, near the old Chacarita neighborhood . Here, the poorer side of town ,with its irregularity,  foliage, and deep red soil, somehow looks richer than the downtown  skyscrapers.

Asunción (Paraguay) 30 "    x    40 " oil on canvas 1989 Private collection

M i a m i   R i v e r 24 "  x  36 " oil on canvas 1994 Private collection

In this view of Sao Paulo, Brazil, I decided to feature Caravaggio's famous painting of "The Conversion of St. Paul "   (on the billboard to the right) as a tribute to the city's patron saint . Below on the rooftop are two soda pop vendors and also a child playing with a n architectural model of the city's earliest colonial building, the Jesuit  Real Colegio.

Sao Paulo, Brazil 24 "  x  30 " oil on canvas 2007 Private collection

Also painted and thought out from sketches and studies drawn "on site" in Old Cartagena, this canvas shows the elegant mixture of classical and tropical  elements found in that great  Caribbean city. This painting is available for purchase. (CLICK to contact artist.)

Cartagena ~~The  Old Port 20 " x  30 " oil on canvas 1989 $  10, 0 0 0

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I learned to see and paint water and light on the
Miami River . I have notebooks and notebooks full of
color-pencil sketches of its boats and of the people
who work there. (CLICK here to view other river
scenes.)