Mystery surrounds Cortes Island artist’s death

The 60-year-old Cortes Island man whose death is being investigated by police as a possible homicide aspired to be the small island’s best-known artist.

Stefano Savioli was an influential painter who portrayed life on the island through vivid colours and surreal images, said sculptor and long-time Cortes Island resident Meinsje Vlaming.

"He said, ‘I don’t care whether I sell or don’t sell, I just want to be Cortes Island’s artist,’ " Vlaming said. "And he was."

Savioli, a Cortes Island resident of almost 30 years, was found dead in his home on a large acreage Friday around 8:30 a.m. and police suspect foul play. Officers with the Vancouver Island Major Crime Unit and Quadra Island Mounties are investigating but are releasing few details.

Police are not releasing the cause of death pending an autopsy this week, have made no arrests and will not say if they have suspects.

Linda Solomon, publisher of the Vancouver Observer online newspaper, said she was on Cortes Island the day Savioli’s body was found. She wrote on her website that someone close to the painter said that he was found lying in a pool of blood. She added that police had cordoned off the area and barred the family from entering the premises, "even to get a change of clothes."

An RCMP spokesman could not confirm this.

Savioli was married to a woman from Cuba named Abigail and the two had a teenage son named Samuel, local residents said.

"They were very much in love," said Vlaming. "They seemed to live in paradise."

She said the family lived on a 12-hectare rural property on a bluff overlooking Gorge Harbour on Thunder Road, where Savioli had a studio and large garden.

Savioli is from a small tourist town in northern Italy called Riccione, said Chiara Romagnoli, a reporter for the town’s newspaper.

His family is well-known for its role in bolstering the town’s tourism industry, owning hotels and a nightclub, she said.

Savioli came to Canada in 1980 with his first wife, Danila, and their son Christiano. The couple divorced and Danila and Christiano returned to Italy, while Savioli moved to Cortes Island, according to an article in the Voice of Romagna.

Savioli’s brother and oldest son are heading to Canada to deal with the death, Romagnoli said.

Vlaming said the island has lost one of its most prominent proponents, a man who captured its vibrant way of life in his work.

In September 2007, Savioli’s work was showcased at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery on the island, in an exhibition he called Cortes Mon Amour.

"When I heard [of his death] I said that must be wrong," said Vlaming. "He has too much love to give."

kderosa@tc.canwest.com