Annamaria Tosini: The Papier-Mâché Artist Saved from Oblivion
Annamaria Tosini (Palermo, 1930–2013) was a self-taught outsider artist who transformed humble materials like paper napkins, bread wrappers, dried orange peels, and fabric scraps into whimsical sculptures and drawings. After a comfortable childhood and marriage to engineer Francesco Gambino, she hosted vibrant salons in Palermo and Casteldaccia, creating a fantastical garden featured in Marie Claire in 1984, visited by Jorge Luis Borges and Maria Kodama. Her husband's business collapsed due to mafia and corruption, leading to his death in 1997. Tosini was then institutionalized in a care home, where she continued making art—especially large papier-mâché hats described as "wearable sculptures" expressing inner dreams. Upon her death in 2013, the Osservatorio Outsider Art rescued 94 works, exhibited that year at Palermo's Orto Botanico by art historian Eva Di Stefano. Her son Marco is writing a film about her turbulent life.
Key facts
- Annamaria Tosini was born in Palermo on August 25, 1930, to Silvia Cottone and Giuseppe Tosini, a paper entrepreneur from Veneto who founded a typography.
- She married engineer Francesco Gambino in 1955 and had two sons, Marco and Alessandro.
- Her home in Palermo and villa in Casteldaccia became cultural salons with theatrical performances, musical events, and exuberant decorations.
- Her fantastical garden in Casteldaccia was featured in Marie Claire in 1984, praised for its 'poetic imagination'.
- Jorge Luis Borges and Maria Kodama visited her as guests in March 1984.
- Her husband's construction business failed due to mafia and corruption; he died in 1997.
- After his death, Tosini was confined to a psychiatric care facility where she created art using recycled materials and listened to classical music.
- She made large papier-mâché hats as 'wearable sculptures' representing dreams, thoughts, gardens, clouds, and mountains.
- She died on May 13, 2013; 94 works were saved by Osservatorio Outsider Art and exhibited at Palermo's Orto Botanico in 2013.
- Her son Marco is writing a film about her life.
Entities
Artists
- Annamaria Tosini
- Eva Di Stefano
- Jorge Luis Borges
- Maria Kodama
Institutions
- Osservatorio Outsider Art
- Orto Botanico di Palermo
- Marie Claire
- Artribune
Locations
- Palermo
- Italy
- Casteldaccia
- Sicily