Paolo Sandulli: The Keeper of the Amalfi Coast's Memory

Paolo Sandulli Artist: The Keeper of the Amalfi Coast's Memory

Discover the works of Paolo Sandulli, an internationally renowned sculptor and painter. His Queens of the Sea preserve the authentic soul of the Amalfi Coast at the Hotel Margherita.

There is a place on the Amalfi Coast where time seems to stand still, where clay becomes poetry and the faces of fishermen transform into collective memory. For over thirty years, Paolo Sandulli has lived and created in Praiano, preserving through his art the truest soul of these places.

At Hotel Margherita, his works were among the first to enter our Margherita Art Collection, a testament to the deep bond between the hotel and an artist who has made the Coast his muse and refuge.

A Journey Through Art: From Avellino to the World
Born in Avellino in 1949, Paolo Sandulli followed an extraordinary educational path: from his painting degree under Maestro Gentilini in Rome, to five years spent at La Ruche in Paris – the historic artist residence that had hosted giants such as Chagall, Soutine, Archipenko, and Viani.

"In that period I focused exclusively on painting and was lucky enough to exhibit my work in several Parisian galleries," Sandulli recalls. But it was through the Parisian artists who regularly visited Positano that he discovered the land that would change his life and art forever.

His relationship with the Amalfi Coast had begun in 1965, when as a young aspiring artist he arrived in Praiano at his family's holiday home. "Praiano had residents who lived here year-round, artists of every nationality," he recounts. "It was a source of inspiration for me, the ability to connect with so many different influences." After years divided between Naples, Bergamo, and Paris, in 1993 Sandulli definitively chose Praiano as his home, dedicating himself to sculpture and terracotta.

The Queens of the Sea: A Tribute to the Renaissance and Mediterranean Beauty
Sandulli's most iconic works are undoubtedly the Queens of the Sea: female terracotta busts crowned with colourful sea sponges that resemble exuberant, wild hairstyles. Each sculpture has a name, a personality, a biography of its own.

The inspiration comes from a lightning-bolt encounter: "The series is my tribute to Eleonora d'Aragona, whom I saw in Palermo depicted in a work by Francesco Laurana. Her beauty bewitched me and I told myself I had to create precious young ladies, queens of the sea." Francesco Laurana, a fifteenth-century Dalmatian sculptor, had created female busts of the Aragonese court of Naples that distilled an abstract ideal of feminine beauty.

But Sandulli adds something unique: the irony and modernity of the sea sponges. "When I placed the sponge on the first young lady's head, I seemed to catch a smile of approval — the work was finally complete. This woman was speaking to me."

In those figures Sandulli sees his daughter Giuliana and his mother, but also a typically Mediterranean beauty: "These are women with wide hips, chubby feet and slightly plump arms. They are symbols of femininity and fertility. They are the guardians of life, the only ones capable of bestowing it."

The First Contact with Clay and Maestro Franchini
It was in Praiano that Sandulli discovered clay. "I had never worked with clay, but living here I became great friends with Antonio Franchini, a well-known local ceramist. He was the one who taught me the techniques of ceramics." Over time, working alone, he began adding the volumes and three-dimensionality that painting could not express.

This evolution from painting to sculpture was not an abandonment, but an expansion of artistic language. Today Sandulli still returns to painting – his "great love" – alternating it with clay and sponges, in a continuous dialogue between two-dimensionality and form.

The Fishermen of Positano: Recovering Memory
Among Sandulli's most significant works is a series dedicated to the fishermen of Positano, inspired by the work of his friend Michele Theile. Theile, born in Positano in 1935 to German-Jewish parents who had taken refuge in Italy during Nazism, had created frescoes for local venues, in particular at Ristorante Il Caporale, depicting fishermen and maritime life.

"Michele painted a ceiling that I particularly loved," Paolo recounts. "The fishermen were already beginning to disappear from Positano at that time." Drawing inspiration from his friend and the documents he preserves of those frescoes, Sandulli has created a series of six large paintings dedicated to the fishermen of Positano. "It is essential to recover memory in these tourist places, to rediscover the original and authentic motives of local identity."

This summer the artist hopes to exhibit these works in a special location on the Coast and also in Naples, at the Dohrn Institute dedicated to the world of the seas – a recognition that underscores how his work goes beyond the local dimension to touch universal themes of memory and identity.

The Works at Hotel Margherita: A Meeting of Sensibilities
The works by Paolo Sandulli present at Hotel Margherita tell stories and worlds. Among the first acquired by Andrea and Suela, our hosts at Margherita, is the portrait of Luciano De Crescenzo with a hat, part of the series "Men with Hats" – a collection of figures who deeply loved the Amalfi Coast: Rudolf Nureyev, Eduardo De Filippo, the musician Wilhelm Kempff (today remembered by the Orpheus Foundation), and other intellectuals who brought the world to these places.

"The message of this series is to tip one's hat to those who have chosen the Coast as their heart's home," Paolo explains. Gore Vidal, who brought personalities such as Jacqueline Kennedy and Bill Clinton to the Coast, was among these great ambassadors.

Also present in the hotel are the nativity-inspired motifs, both in the sponge sculptures and in the paintings: scenes of daily life where Sandulli demonstrates his preference for telling stories through sculpture, rather than developing forms as ends in themselves. An approach that distances him from the modern concept of abstract sculpture and brings him closer to the Neapolitan narrative tradition.

Other works include a portrait of our Suela in a vase created for the gardens of Palazzo Murat, scenes of fishermen playing cards, the vase of the two divers, and a mermaid caught by a fisherman who does not realise he has captured a mythological creature – a perfect metaphor for the relationship between reality and legend in these places.

There are also paintings with retro sketches of the Coast – aerial views of Furore, Atrani, Praiano that tell the story of early tourism, when the Coast was still a secret shared among artists and visionary travellers.

The Studio: A Small Museum of the Soul
Today Sandulli's studio is located on the terrace of his family home in Praiano, at Via Umberto I, 21. Here, beside the great cedar of Lebanon planted together with his father in 1965, Paolo continues to create and welcome visitors by appointment.

The studio is "a small museum that houses a collection," as he himself defines it – a refuge of authenticity that tells not only of his works, but also of the history of artists who have passed through the Coast. International celebrities such as Harrison Ford, Pierce Brosnan, Baroness Rothschild, and Sharon Stone have visited his studio. "Sharon Stone arrived barefoot, without announcing her visit," he recalls with a smile. "I hadn't recognised her."

The Amalfi Coast: Refuge, Inspiration, Responsibility
"I owe everything to the Coast, it corresponds to me completely," he confesses. "It is so beautiful and often poorly used for its quality, like a woman who should be a queen. I have a great sense of gratitude. Even in all the moments when I faced difficulties, I always came to heal my wounds on the Coast."

His vision of the Coast is that of a place that "still makes artists free," a refuge "for those who want to be reborn, without being dramatically exposed to dangers." But it is also a land that carries responsibility.

"The commercial element prevails over everything, to the detriment of culture," he observes with regret. "There is a lack of ability to turn this heritage into memory and give it value." Sandulli fights strongly to bring back the values of authenticity against unbridled commercialisation, against the world of Instagram and status symbols.

"I would like a museum to be created for the artists who have lived and worked on the Coast, who have left their mark, their messages. Memory, works remain, and the possibility of connecting with the generations to come remains." An ambitious project would be to have a museum location that could host exhibitions of great value, considering "all the incredible artists who have passed through the Coast, from the Grand Tour onwards."

Hotels as Patrician Houses: Custodians of Art
"Hotels on the Coast are somewhat like a patrician house of the past — they make up for the lack of a museum venue, and give visibility and opportunities for tourists to discover this artistic side of the Coast."

This is precisely the philosophy of Hotel Margherita: to create a dialogue between hospitality and culture, offering our guests not only comfort and beauty, but also the opportunity to encounter the true soul of these places through the art of masters like Paolo Sandulli.

An Invitation to Slow Travel
"Never arrive on the Coast in a hurry," Paolo warns. "Travel is also the ability to question everything you have learned and understand what others have done in a different way."

His words are an invitation to slow down, to look beyond the glossy surface, to seek in the details that beauty which emerges "from self-awareness." Like the fisherman portrayed in his works: "Of course, he is not Marlon Brando, but his beauty comes from his awareness of himself."

Paolo's hope – and ours – is that the local young people can build a future project that involves the world in the Amalfi Coast, not only for tourism, but also for art and culture.

At Hotel Margherita we are proud to be among the first supporters of Paolo Sandulli's work. His works are not mere decorations, but windows into the soul of the Coast, guardians of a memory at risk of being swept away by the frenzy of mass tourism. We invite you to take time to discover his art during your stay, and perhaps to visit his studio to meet this extraordinary guardian of beauty.

For information about Paolo Sandulli's works on display in the hotel or to book a visit to his studio during your stay, the Hotel Margherita team will be happy to assist you.

Atelier Paolo Sandulli – Via Umberto I, 21, Praiano – Visits by appointment: +39 339 440 1008

Email: info@hotelmargherita.info
Telephone: +39089874628
Whatsapp: +393337166631