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Time - Man of the Year
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1992-09-10
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FROM THE PUBLISHER, Page 4
Three weeks ago, our Art Department cover coordinator, Linda
Freeman, received a phone call from Maurice Skinazi, an
international businessman and art collector. Mr. Skinazi
suggested that if by any chance TIME was going to do a story on
the Rio summit, we should consider using something painted by
his friend, Brazilian painter Lia Mittarakis.
Mr. Skinazi, who might consider a second career as an
editor, had guessed our plans exactly right. Yes indeed, we were
readying a special report on the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development in Rio, and yes, we were in need of
a cover illustration. Freeman asked Skinazi to send a
transparency of the painting. Even though TIME rarely uses
unsolicited artwork for the cover, the simple beauty of this
painting delighted everyone, and art director Rudolph Hoglund
decided to use it. "Before I told Lia about the situation, I
asked her to name the most famous magazine in the world, and of
course she said TIME," recalls Skinazi. "She was simply elated
that you would consider her painting for the cover."
Mittarakis' style is commonly known as "naive art," a term
that describes contemporary works that are painted in a folk
manner. Mittarakis, the daughter of Greek immigrants, lost both
her parents by the time she was 10 years old. She took up
painting during her teenage years while living in an orphanage.
For years the artist supported herself and two daughters by
selling tropical scenes at Rio street fairs. Her vibrant works
-- which have been called "painted poetry" -- eventually
attracted the attention of European critics.
Although a detached retina has robbed Mittarakis of sight
in her right eye and she has lost 60% of the vision in her left
eye, she continues to produce canvases at home on Paqueta
Island off the coast of Rio. The work reproduced on this week's
cover is an acrylic portrayal of the Tijuca forest overlooking
Rio.
Our special report on the summit is part of TIME's
commitment to cover environmental issues, which began when we
named Endangered Earth as the Planet of the Year for 1988. Says
senior editor Charles Alexander, who edited the stories: "The
summit itself can't save the earth, but it can put the nations
of the world on the right path." Mittarakis shares that optimism
and hopes that "by portraying the beauties of nature, we can
remind the world about what is at stake." That is exactly our
intent.
-- Elizabeth P. Valk