Alfredo Volpi is one of Brazil’s most renowned artists thanks to the originality of his work and the permanent influence he exerts on modern and contemporary painting. Volpi’s works are characterized by a blend of popular culture and erudite art, by the creation of a geometric formal vocabulary, and by the luminous colors, handcrafted by the artist. Volpi was never affiliated with any school, although he maintained dialogue with the concretist movement, in which he participated as a guest at the National Concrete Art Exhibitions in 1956 and 1957.  

Born in Lucca, Italy, Volpi moved to São Paulo as a child. He worked as a bookbinder, carpenter, carver, and wall painter. He took part in a group exhibition for the first time in 1925 and, from the 1930s onwards, he joined a circle of artists that included Francisco Rebolo, Bruno Giorgi and Ernesto de Fiori, and joined the Santa Helena Group, an important reference in the São Paulo art scene. His first works consisted of landscapes and interior scenes with a naturalistic trace, influenced by impressionism. However, the trips he made to Brazil and Europe were important for the development of his own language, defined by attention to chromatic composition and formal simplification.  

Of the numerous group exhibitions Volpi participated in, the most notable were the first three editions of the Bienal de São Paulo (1951, 1953, 1955); the 26th Venice Biennale (1952); and the Primeira Exposição Coletiva de Artistas Brasileiros na Europa (First Collective Exhibition of Brazilian Artists in Europe), which traveled through Germany, Holland, Portugal, Spain, Austria and France (1960). At the second edition of the São Paulo International Biennial, he was awarded the prize for Best National Painting together with Di Cavalcanti (1953). Alfredo Volpi participated in numerous Fine Arts Salons, both in São Paulo and the National Salon in Rio de Janeiro. His works are part of major public and private collections in Brazil and abroad, such as the MoMA, USA; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Spain; MAM Rio, Rio de Janeiro, MAM São Paulo, Pinacoteca de São Paulo, MAC USP, São Paulo; among many others.