Margherita Leoni

“I started painting the plants of the Brazilian forests in 1997, and I never stopped."

For Margherita Leoni, these are not simply plants. They are Forms of Life — in their most complete and elevated meaning. Flowers, leaves, roots, branches, seeds, and fruits are all real, emotional, and sometimes even dramatic expressions of the environment in which they are born. One must take the time to stop and observe. One must know how to listen and collect their emotions. This is what Margherita did while painting en plein air the plants and flowers of Brazil, fully immersed in their natural habitat to capture their purest essence and truth.

Always deeply connected to nature and a strong advocate for the importance of biodiversity, Margherita Leoni tells the story of her 16 years in Brazil through breathtaking paintings of the local flora. Today, these paintings bring new life to Tecnografica’s Collaborations, transforming into new wallpaper designs. The exclusive artworks by Margherita Leoni reach their highest expression through the ECO finish, Tecnografica’s certified ecological wallpaper, made of 100% cellulose fiber.

Margherita Leoni was born in Bergamo in 1974 and graduated from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan in 1997. That same year, she lived for six months in the Reserva Biológica de Quebrangulo in Brazil, where she began to depict various floral species of Brazilian nature in her watercolor paintings. From there, her work dedicated to wild forests began, with a particular focus on the main biomes of the Amazon Rainforest, Tropical Moist Forest, and Cerrado.

In 1999, she married the Brazilian sculptor Luciano Mello Witkowski Pinto and moved to Brazil, settling in the city of Americana, in the state of São Paulo. Between 2000 and 2001, she studied Botanical Morphology and Systematic Botany at the University of São Paulo. Over the years, she has built strong friendships and professional collaborations with both Brazilian and Italian botanists, including Harri Lorenzi, a renowned Brazilian botanist specializing in the study and appreciation of Brazil’s native plants.

From 2000 to 2016, she lived in Brazil but often traveled to Italy, maintaining a strong bond with her cultural roots. Since 2016, she has been living permanently in Bergamo, Italy.

Since 2000, she has exhibited her works in public spaces and international art galleries. Among her numerous exhibitions:

• 2020 – Il respiro verde. SELVATICA Arte e Natura in festival, curated by Lorenza Salamon, Fabrizio Lava, Palazzo Gromo Losa, Biella, Italy.
• 2019 – Laudato sì. Tra bellezza e grido. Works by Margherita Leoni and Luciano Mello Witkowski Pinto, curated by Angelo Piazzoli and Tarcisio Tironi; Bergamo, Palazzo Storico Credito Bergamasco, Italy.
• 2019 – Margherita Leoni. Flora Dea della Primavera, curated by Lorenza Salamon, Salamon Fine Art, Milan, Italy.
• 2016 – Pau Brasil. Il mito verde di Margherita Leoni, curated by Anna Lisa Ghirardi, Osvaldo Negra, Francesco Rigobello, Muse Museo delle Scienze, Trento – Italy.
• 2012 – Paradiso Terrestre, Horto Florestal de São Paulo Alberto Löfgren – Brazil.
• 2012 – Paradiso Terrestre, I Festival Internacional de Cinema, Campos do Jordão, SP – Brazil.
• 2008 – Programa Petrobras Ambiental 2008-2012, Edificio Petrobras, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil.
• 2008 – Paradiso Terrestre, curated by Maria Cristina Rodeschini Galati, GAMeC Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo, Spazio Parola Immagine, Italy.
• 2004 – Messaggi brasiliani, curated by G. Rinaldi and H. Salamon, Parco botanico del Cantone Ticino, Isole di Brissago, Switzerland; Museo cantonale di storia naturale di Lugano – Switzerland.