Brazilian painter Candido Portinari (1903-1962) was born to Italian immigrant parents in the coffee-growing region of São Paulo state.
Unlike most European transplants, Portinari identified with workers and the poor. His political activities as a Communist caused him persecution and even exile for a time. Many present-day Brazilians are proud of his work – a personal combination of socialist realism with historical fantasy, in a multitude of styles.