The Ambassador's collection: For the love of art

Brazilian Ambassador Alfredo Leoni’s home is chock-full of treasures that would make an art fanatic’s head spin.

As you approach Ambassador Alfredo Leoni’s residence in Islamabad, the expansive facade gives you an inkling of what you’ll find inside. And as you cross the threshold and catch a glimpse of the two 17th century stone columns decorating the entrance, you know you’re about to meet a man deeply in love with the art world.

“As a collector it is emotion that excites me most,” says Leoni, seated in his elegant parlour. “I won’t buy anything that I don’t connect with. And with education, your taste becomes more accurate and you become deeply involved with the art world.”

Ambassador Leoni has been an avid collector of art and antiques for the last thirty years. He started collecting art when he was just 23; his first purchase was a work by Brazilian artist Siron Franco.

Here in Islamabad, his presumably modern house in the heart of Sector F-7/3 is furnished with pieces from George III and other Portuguese antiques that have made their way to Brazil and have had an influence on Brazilian furnishing.

Everywhere you look, there is something else to see. In the sitting room, the glass top of the coffee table rests on an Italian carved marble stand from the 14th century. Scattered on the coffee table and around the parlour are silver antiques from the 17th and 18th century.

The white upholstery in the room is modern and provides the perfect backdrop for all the art decorating the walls.

At first glance a lay person like me would have assumed that the plethora of rugs adorning the floors were of Persian origin, however I am soon informed that each piece is of 18th and 19th century Caucasian origin.

More so than the collection and the aesthetic appeal of the house- what is truly spectacular — is the homogeneity that ties each piece together. “All the art is Brazilian and even the antiques are selected with great care because I do not want my house to look like a clutter of random objects,” says Leoni.

For all his love of Braziliian art, what does Leoni think of Pakistani artists? Leoni says that since he loves to travel too, he finds it very difficult to buy artwork from wherever he happens to be living at the moment. A fervent lover of Ghulam Rasool Santosh’s art work, the collector shares close personal ties with the artist and also has respect for other Pakistani artists.

According to Ambassador Leoni, two of his favourite haunts  — the Tanzara Art Gallery and Khaas Art Gallery — are the most prominent galleries promoting modern art. “I am a modern art collector,” explains Leoni. “I would love to collect contemporary art but it is too expensive... so for now I am happy collecting modern art. There is no end to desire and even though each year I try to resist buying more, my love for art and antiques compels me to do so,” he adds.

His reason for collecting and displaying mainly Brazilian art is very simple: “I travel around the world, and this is my way of showing my culture to people from other areas. It is something different and new to experience.”

During his travels, he also remains committed to experiencing new art himself. In 2009, while based in Washington DC, Leoni travelled to New York to witness an exhibit of Pakistani artists at the Asia Society. “For me Lahore is the hub of modern art in Pakistan and the work that the artists have done there is not only exquisite but also very important,” he says.

To Ambassador Leoni, his collection is as close to him as his family. “In all my travels I have never felt lonely because I am always surrounded by items that mean a lot to me and I am emotionally attached to history. I don’t regret investing in these pieces at all,” he says. While he loves travelling to New York, London and Paris for cultural activities and to enjoy the theatre and opera, his soul is attached to the beach. “I grew up in Rio, so the expansiveness of the sea is embedded in my soul, and whenever I want to relax I run back to Brazil to enjoy the laidback culture and swim,” says the Ambassador.

As I poke around the house I find Brazilian sculptures depicting the seasons adorning a casual dining area, while another lounge exhibits more art work from Japanese, Brazilian and other renowned modern artists from the region. However, his formal dining area is what really gets my attention.

Decorated with crockery and cutlery from the Victorian era and original goblets from France, the table is set for a dinner later on in the evening. “Something unimportant can become very important because of the value we humans attach to it,” concludes Ambassador Leoni. “Taste and emotion are the origins of a collection and make me feel right at home regardless of where I am living.”

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, July 10^th, 2011.