Romero Britto

Like his countryman Pele, the soccer football phenomenon who started in poverty, Britto rose from straitened circumstances. He was born in 1963 in Recife, one of nine children but even at age eight, he was a budding artist. His mom spanked him for drawing all over his notebooks because she couldn’t just go out and buy new ones. So Britto started doodling and painting on scrap paper and cardboard. He was only 14 when he was chosen for a group show in Recife presented by the Organization of American States. He scored a scholarship to college, and one thing led to another. Eventually he had the opportunity, like all fortunate artists, to visit Paris, the city of Pablo Picasso and Henry Matisse. This brush with the Modern masters, and the revolutionary idea of Cubism, changed his work forever.

In 1988, Britto immigrated to Miami. His first big break in America was being tapped to design the 25th-anniversary Absolut vodka ad campaign, joining the distinguished roster they had commissioned since their first Warhol bottle, a milestone in the relationship between art and advertising that recalls the great masters who were commissioned by the Rothschild family, who own their own Britto works, to create designs for their wine labels (Picasso, Matisse, Balthus, Chagall, Dali, Braque and even Prince Charles have contributed to the series).

A child of hardship, Britto has generously leveraged his fame and success in the service of philanthropic causes. He created his own foundation to support humanitarian efforts on behalf of children worldwide, and has unstintingly contributed his time and talent to more than 250 non-profit causes, such as the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education, Best Buddies International, the World Economic and Development Fund, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Art can really be an agent of change,” Britto says. “It can be inspiring and bring people together. I am blessed, because I have this gift where I can create art and bring people together with my art.”

Britto’s bustling studio is in the internationally renowned Wynwood Arts district of Miami, a neighborhood featuring painters and murals that draws millions of tourists each year.

Your first thought when you look at Romero Britto’s work is that he has learned the lesson of Pop very well. The firm graphic lines, the intense colors, the rhythmic patterns all invoke the classic Pop vocabulary laid down by Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol in the Sixties and now espoused by the “super-flat” Pop art of Murakami and others in Asia. The cloisonne-like effect of primary colors surrounded by strong black outlines gives them their graphic punch.

But a closer look recalls that seminal trip to Paris he took, because the lovers’ faces for instance have an angular Cubist look that he has clearly adopted from Picasso, Braque and Juan Gris. Britto departs from their somber palettes of brown, grey, black and white to fill these works with a high-toned palette of golds, reds and vivid greens. They all serve that essential optimism that is essential a way Britto expresses himself and his own outlook: “I hope when people see my art they have a big smile on their face and a huge one in their heart,” Britto says.

Romero Britto: Accomplishments

• Britto’s art has been shown in more than 140 galleries and museums in 100 different nations, including the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, France, Today Art Museum in Beijing, China, and the Florida Museum of Hispanic and Latin American Art in Miami.
• Britto’s commissions include Absolut, Grand Marnier, Volvo, Apple Latin America, Pepsi-Cola, IBM, Disney, the United Nations, Mini Cooper for BMW, the Mariner of the Seas for the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, and BankAtlantic.
• Britto’s largest sculpture project in Asia is a one-of-a-kind Royalty Pig, commissioned by NetDragon Websoft, a software and game development giant, for their headquarters in Fuzhou, China.
• Britto created artwork in 2010 and 2014 for FIFA World Cup as well as the 2007 Super Bowl.
• His public sculptures are featured throughout the world, including Florida, Germany, Washington D.C., and New York.
• Collectors of his work include Michael Jordan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Andre Agassi as well as the Guggenheim family, the Rothschilds, the Kennedys, the Mitterands, President Barack Obama, and former Whitney Museum President, William Woodside.
• In 2012, Britto’s work was honored at Brazil’s annual Rio de Janeiro Carnival, a five-day celebration held 40 days before Easter.
• He has been profiled in numerous national publications including People Magazine, Art News, Variety, and Leaders Magazine.
• Britto served as the Brazilian ambassador for the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio, Brazil. Coca-Cola commissioned him to create artwork for the event and nominated him to carry the Olympic torch in his hometown of Recife.
• In March 2017, Miami presented Britto with his own star on Miami’s Walk of Fame. That same year, the city named him the “Art and Cultural Ambassador of the City of Miami.”
• In 2017, the Star Art Foundation commissioned Britto to create a work of art presented to His Holiness Pope Francis in Rome. The work was titled “Pope Francis – The Protector of the Poor and Peace Maker” and was a symbolic gesture of thanks for the pope’s support of the In Defense of Christians Foundation.

Britto: Museum Exhibitions

• Carrousel du Louvre, Salon Nationale des Beaux-Arts
• Sonderausstellung der Kinder-Akademie Fulda, Germany
• Sichuan Arts Museum Chengdu, China
• Museum of Lu Xun Art Academy Shenyang, China
• Museum of Guanghou Art Academy Guangzhou, China
• Museum of Contemporary Art/MOCA Shanghai, China
• Maison de Imerique Latine de Monaco- Monaco
• Boca Raton Museum of Art Boca Raton, Florida
• Coral Springs Museum of Art Coral Springs, Florida
• Fine Arts Museum of Long Island Hempstead, New York
• Museu de Bellas Artes- San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Goodwill Games Museum, Lake Placid, New York
• Museu Nacional de Belas Artes Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Museo da Imagem e do Som Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Officina de Arte Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• Museo de Cinco Pontas Recife, Brazil
• Benemerita Universidad Automoma de Puebla, Mexico