Sergio Telles

He carried two careers in parallel all his life: diplomacy and painting. He began painting at nine, in the Quinta da Boa Vista, with the landscapist Levino Fânzeres; his first solo show came in 1955, and in 1957 he travelled through Europe, interning in restoration at the Vatican Pinacoteca.

He entered the diplomatic service in 1964 and served in South America, Europe, Africa and Asia, as Brazil’s ambassador to Malaysia, Lebanon and Tunisia. Painting followed him to every post: houses, interiors, still lifes, portraits and city views, at times so light as to be nearly abstract, at others dense with colour.