The roots of Brazilian sculpture have been traced back to the late 16th century, emerging soon after the first settlements in the newly discovered land. Through the following century, most of the sculpture in Brazil was brought from Portugal and displayed Baroque features. The Baroque style would flourish within the religious culture of the country and would remain predominant until the first decades of the 19th century. In the 19th century, sculptural activity decreased, but it later revived when both the government and the public took a new interest in the art. Modernism fomented a period of intense research into a new language of sculpture, with great achievements, and the contemporary sculpture of Brazil enjoys worldwide respect.
The mid 17th century saw the emergence of the first national school of sculpture with the works of Domingos da Conceição, Agostinho da Piedade and Agostinho de Jesus, now seen as the founders of Brazilian sculpture. Through the 17th and 18th centuries, there were major centers of sculpture production in Salvador and Olinda and in some cities in Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Although Portuguese pieces continued to be imported in great numbers, native masters proliferated. They took refined European models as a source for their inspiration, adapting their general lines toward a folk interpretation of the Baroque style. [1] Decorative woodcarving would also be largely dependent on Portuguese influence, but it flourished with great splendor, as can be seen inside the many churches erected during this period.
Most surviving pieces from the Baroque era do not record authorship, and only a few names are known: Francisco das Chagas, Manuel Inácio da Costa, Francisco Xavier de Brito and Francisco Vieira Servas. Above them all stands Aleijadinho. He was active in Minas Gerais where he left his greatest works, considered the glory of Brazilian Baroque sculpture: six groups of wooden carved statues known as the Via Sacra cycle and the 12 Prophets carved in soapstone, all at Bom Jesus de Matosinhos Sanctuary in Congonhas do Campo, now a World Heritage Site. The Baroque tradition survived until the beginning of the 20th century, albeit more and more sparsely and mainly in Bahia, despite the introduction of Neoclassicism in the 1820s. [2] [3]
Two special genres of sculpture deserve mention in the Baroque period: the missionary sculpture and the so-called de roca statues. The first flourished in the Reductions and was produced by Indians, often helped by Jesuit missionaries, as part of the Jesuits' method of teaching religion to the Indians, who were deeply impressed with and moved by European art. Its style is a highly original synthesis of European influences with the native vision. These creations are of great interest because of their plastic quality and their unique flavor. Although most of them have disappeared, either sold abroad, reshaped, or destroyed, many pieces do remain, preserved mainly by the Missions Museum in Rio Grande do Sul, and they are Brazilian National Heritage. [4] The second special genre, the de roca statues, were also sacred in nature and shared a common purpose with the missionary art, as both were didactic. Manipulated by puppeteers in plays of a sacred character, they were instrumental in exciting piety in the people, enhancing the dramatic effect of the play. They were also commonly carried by chariots or other movable devices as part of a procession. [5]
After the arrival of King John VI of Portugal and his court in 1808, a group of French refugees known as the French Artistic Mission proposed, in 1816, the creation of an Academy of Arts on the model of the Académie de peinture et de sculpture in Paris. The Brazilian Academy, called the Royal School of Sciences, Arts and Crafts, later restructured as the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts, dominated Brazilian art for more than 100 years. The academy merged, following further restructuring, with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1931. [6]
During the 19th century, Brazilian sculpture declined severely. Religious tradition, until then the greatest source of inspiration, was displaced by secular concerns, and only a few important artists were active, all of them working within the academic circle, displaying a mixed blend of styles: Neoclassical, Romantic, and Realist. The only great name in this impoverished period was Rodolfo Bernardelli, but others deserve mention: Marc Ferrez, Honorato Manoel de Lima, Francisco Elídio Pânfiro and Francisco Manuel Chaves Pinheiro. Cândido Caetano de Almeida Reis and Décio Villares, both noteworthy talents, left some fine pieces. [7] [8]
The last years of the 19th century witnessed increasing diversity of styles. In the beginning of the 20th century, Brazilian sculpture regained strength and was evolving across Neogothic, Art Nouveau, Symbolism, and Art Deco. Funerary sculpture opened up as a major market, and official art produced some important monuments. Eclectic pieces crowded on many facades, sacred sculptors were active, and a renewed interest in the art became evident. Modestino Kanto, Celso Antônio Silveira de Menezes, Ettore Ximenes, Amadeu Zani, Elio de Giusto, Adolfo Rollo, and Francisco Leopoldo e Silva produced fine pieces in this phase. [9] [10]
Victor Brecheret was the leading name for introducing Modernist taste into Brazilian sculpture, seconded by Quirino da Silva, Lasar Segall, Antônio Gomide, Elisabeth Nobiling, Bruno Giorgi, Julio Guerra, Ernesto de Fiori and Alfredo Ceschiatti. A landmark in this development was the 1951 São Paulo Art Biennial, which lent abstract sculpture official support by granting first prize to a piece by Swiss artist Max Bill. [11]
Thereafter, abstract art flourished, displaying several interpretations of the style, but figurative tendencies did not vanish, combining with, or sometimes not, various grades of abstraction. The Pop Art and Neoexpressionism of the 1960s contributed variety, and in the 1970s, Conceptualism broadened ideas about artistic creation and the significance of art, and the range of materials used for sculpting opened wide. Since the 1980s, Brazilian sculpture has been consistently taught in many universities, and in the beginning of the 21st century, many Brazilian artists enjoy international approval, such as Francisco Brennand, Franz Weissmann, Amílcar de Castro, Lygia Clark, Sergio de Camargo, Sérvulo Esmeraldo, Frans Krajcberg, Sonia Ebling, Iole de Freitas, Willys de Castro, and Waltércio Caldas. [11]
Ouro Preto, formerly Vila Rica, is a Brazilian municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais. The city, a former colonial mining town located in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains, was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO due to its Baroque colonial architecture. Ouro Preto used to be the capital of Minas Gerais from 1720 until the foundation of Belo Horizonte in 1897.
Antônio Francisco Lisboa, better known as Aleijadinho, was a sculptor, carver and architect of Colonial Brazil, noted for his works on and in various churches of Brazil. With a style related to Baroque and Rococo, Aleijadinho is considered almost by consensus as the greatest exponent of colonial art in Brazil by Brazilian critics and, surpassing Brazilian borders, for some foreign scholars he is the greatest name of Baroque in the Americas.
The Museu Nacional de Belas Artes is a national art museum located in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The museum, officially established in 1937 by the initiative of education minister Gustavo Capanema, was inaugurated in 1938 by President Getúlio Vargas. The museum collection, on the other hand, takes its rise in the transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil in the early 19th century, when King John VI brought along with him part of the Portuguese Royal Collection. This art collection stayed in Brazil after the King's return to Europe and became the core collection of the National School of Fine Arts. When the museum was created in 1937, it became the heir not only the National School collection, but also of its headquarters, a 1908 eclectic style building projected by Spanish architect Adolfo Morales de los Ríos.
The creation of art in the geographic area now known as Brazil begins with the earliest records of its human habitation. The original inhabitants of the land, pre-Columbian Indigenous or Natives peoples, produced various forms of art; specific cultures like the Marajoara left sophisticated painted pottery. This area was colonized by Portugal in the 16th century and given the modern name of Brazil. Brazilian art is most commonly used as an umbrella term for art created in this region post Portuguese colonization.
The Rio Grande do Sul Museum of Art is an art museum in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. It is located in the centre of Porto Alegre. Its eclectic building, national heritage, is one of the most noteworthy historic buildings in Porto Alegre. Its design is usually attributed to Theodor Wiederspahn, a German-Brazilian architect, although important local historian and artist Fernando Corona ascribes it to Germano Gundlach.
Gilded woodcarving in Portugal is, along with azulejos, one of the country's most original and rich artistic expressions. It is usually used in the interior decoration of churches and cathedrals and of noble halls in palaces and large public buildings. An impressive collection of altarpieces are found in Portuguese churches. Originating in the Gothic era, Portuguese gilded woodcarving assumed a nationalist character during the 17th century and reached its height in the reign of King D. João V. In the 19th century it lost its originality and began to disappear with the end of the revival era.
Rodolfo Amoedo was a Brazilian painter, designer and decorator.
The Baroque in Brazil was the dominant artistic style during most of the colonial period, finding an open ground for a rich flowering. It made its appearance in the country at the beginning of the 17th century, introduced by Catholic missionaries, especially Jesuits, who went there in order to catechize and acculturate the native indigenous peoples and assist the Portuguese in the colonizing process. In the course of the Colonial period, expressed a close association between the Church and the State, but in the colony there was not a court that would serve as a patron of the arts, the elites did not bother to build palaces, or to help sponsor the profane arts, but at the end of the period, and how the religion had a strong influence on the daily lives of everyone in this group of factors derives from the vast majority of the legacy of the Brazilian Baroque period, is the sacred art: statuary, painting, and the work of carving for the decoration of churches and convents, or for private worship.
The Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo is one of the most important art museums in Brazil. It is housed in a 1900 building in Jardim da Luz, Downtown São Paulo, designed by Ramos de Azevedo and Domiziano Rossi to be the headquarters of the Lyceum of Arts and Crafts. It is the oldest art museum in São Paulo, founded on December 24, 1905, and established as a public state museum since 1911.
The Artistic-Cultural Collection of the Governmental Palaces of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, aims to document, preserve and divulge circa 3,500 works of art of great artistic and cultural significance, which belong to the state's heritage. These works of art are located in the historical buildings of the Palácio dos Bandeirantes, the Palácio do Horto, in the city of São Paulo, and the Palácio Boa Vista, in Campos do Jordão.
The Ema Gordon Klabin Cultural Foundation is an art museum located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Officially established in 1978, it is a not-for-profit private institution, legally declared as an organization of federal public interest. It was created by the Brazilian collector and philanthropist Ema Gordon Klabin (1907–1994), with the purpose of preserving and displaying her art collection, as well as promoting cultural, artistic and scientific activities. The foundation is headquartered in Ema's former house in Jardins district, specially designed by architect Alfredo Ernesto Becker in the 1950s to hold her collection. The house is surrounded by a 4,000 square meters garden projected by Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx.
The Imperial Academy of Fine Arts was an institution of higher learning in the arts in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, established by King João VI. Despite facing many initial difficulties, the Academy was established and took its place at the forefront of Brazilian arts education in the second half of the nineteenth century. The Academy became the center of the diffusion of new aesthetic trends and the teaching of modern artistic techniques. It eventually became one of the principal arts institutions under the patronage of Emperor Dom Pedro II. With the Proclamation of the Republic, it became known as the National School of Fine Arts. It became extinct as an independent institution in 1931, when it was absorbed by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and became known as the UFRJ School of Fine Arts, which still operates today.
Museum of Art of the Parliament of São Paulo is a contemporary art museum housed in the Palácio 9 de Julho, the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo house. The Palace is located in south of the city, opposite to the Ibirapuera Park.
The Museum of Sacred Art of São Paulo a museum dedicated to the collection and display of sacred art of Brazil. It is located in the Luz neighborhood of São Paulo in the left wing of the Luz Monastery, a religious institution founded in 1774 by Frei Galvão. The monastery is the only colonial building of the eighteenth century in São Paulo to preserve its original building elements, materials and structure. The monastery was listed as an architectural monument of national importance in 1943 by the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN) and subsequently by the State of São Paulo Council for the Defense of the Historical, Archaeological, Artistic and Touristic Heritage (CONDEPHAAT).
Valentim da Fonseca e Silva, better known as Mestre Valentim, was a Brazilian sculptor and urban planner. Like Antonio Francisco Lisboa, also known as Aleijadinho, he is one of the most famous artists of colonial Brazil and was of mixed race. Mestre Valentim recounts details of his life in his testament. He was born in Serro do Frio to Manoel da Fonseca e Silva, a white man, and Amatilde da Fonseca, a black woman. Although he never married, his relationship with Josefa Maria da Conceição resulted in a daughter named Joana. Although the details of his artistic training are up to debate, he may have traveled to Portugal with his family as a child. By adulthood, he found himself living and working in Rio de Janeiro.
Dudi Maia Rosa is a Brazilian artist.
Classical music in Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, begins at the end of the 18th century, but this artistic field did not really begin to flourish until the middle of the 19th century, and was consolidated throughout the 20th century with the founding of several educational institutions and the proliferation of groups, interpreters and composers, projecting the city across the state as the main producer and radiator of influence. Currently Porto Alegre has a considerable audience for classical music; it is in the script of concertists of international fame, has two stable orchestras and a chamber orchestra, and numerous smaller chamber groups and vocal and instrumental soloists, as well as a large number of music schools and performance spaces. Some of its composers have known national fame. According to conductor Isaac Karabtchevsky, who was the artistic director of OSPA, "there is no greater identity in music in the world than in the population of Porto Alegre". At the same time there is a significant development in academic research and advanced professional qualification in undergraduate and graduate courses in music at UFRGS.
Brazilian Romantic painting was the leading artistic expression in Brazil during the latter half of the 19th century, coinciding with the Second Reign. It represented a unique evolution of the Romantic movement; it diverged significantly from its European counterpart and even the parallel Romantic movement in Brazilian literature. Characterized by a palatial and restrained aesthetic, it incorporated a strong neoclassical influence and gradually integrated elements of Realism, Symbolism, and other schools, resulting in an eclectic synthesis that dominated the Brazilian art scene until the early 20th century.
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The Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, popularly called the Our Lady of the Pillar Mother Church, is one of the best known Catholic buildings among those erected during the Brazilian Gold Rush. It is a listed monument by the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN). It is located at the Monsenhor Castilho Barbosa Square.