Page 24 - Studio International - February 1965

Contemporary Brazilian painting and printmaking

1 by Marc Berkowitz

By leaps and bounds and paradoxes. and great intervals
of nothing, Brazilian art has attained a position of certain
importance on the contemporary art scene. In order to
understand these peculiarities. a general idea of the
historical development may be useful. It is necessary to
understand that while the rest of the Latin American
continent was conquered by the Spaniards. Brazil was
discovered by the Portuguese. The destruction of old
cultures and the slaughter of whole populations, as
compared to a peaceful if slow development. But then.
of course. when the Portuguese reached Brazil in 1 500.
there were no cultures to be destroyed. They found
extremely primitive Indian tribes. whose influence on
the artistic and cultural development of Brazil has been
negligible.
On the other hand. the Portuguese were responsible
for importing Negro slaves: they needed cheap and
numerous labour for exploiting the gold mines, and
the huge coffee. sugar and cocoa plantations. The
Negroes really did change the whole aspect of Brazilian
culture, particularly in the Northern and North-eastern
regions; they influenced every art form. The first great
example of this racial and cultural influence was the
'Aleijadinho' (Little Cripple). Antonio Francisco Lisboa.
son of a Portuguese workmaster and of a Negro slave,
who became one of the greatest artists Latin America
has ever produced.
The leaps and bounds-in time and in geography­
help us understand some of the strange paradoxes to
be found in Brazilian art. There was a short-lived
flowering of art in the state of Pernambuco. in the first
part of the 17th century, when that part of the country
was under the dominion of the Dutch. Prince Maurice of
Nassau was the Governor. and he imported a number of
Dutch architects and artists. Among the latter was
Frans Post. whose paintings of Brazilian life and land­
scapes of the period are to be found in many museums
throughout the world. Gold. coffee. sugar. cocoa and
rubber produced much money, even if sometimes only
for a relatively short period. and where the money
appeared. there was a flowering of art and architecture.
with the wonderful examples of the Minas Gerais cities
of Ouro Preto. Sao Joao d'EI Rey. Sabara. Congonhas
do Campo (where the 'Aleijadinho's'towering 'Prophets'
are to be found). Mariana. Tiradents. Diamantina. with
their severe and paradoxically simple baroque; or.
farther north. the flamboyant Salvador; Recife with its
many bridges; Sao Luis do Maranhao with its many
beautiful colonial mansions; and. between Rio de
Janeiro and Sao Paulo. the serene harbour of Paraty.
When Napoleon's armies invaded the lberic peninsula,
the Court of Portugal escaped to Brazil, and Rio de
Janeiro became the capital of the Portuguese Empire.
In 1816 a cultural mission arrived from France, headed
by Lebreton. and including Taunay and Debret. The
latter spent many years in Brazil, and his watercolours
and engravings show the life and the customs of
colonial Brazil.
The independence of Brazil was declared in 1823, the
Republic was proclaimed in 1889-but artistically
speaking Brazil was dormant. The architecture of the
first half of the 19th century was good. but otherwise
the plastic arts were purely academic. Romanticism,
impressionism. expressionism and other movements
changed the whole outlook on art in Europe; Turner.
Goya, Delacroix. Monet. Cezanne. Daumier. Gauguin.
Van Gogh, and so many others. produced their works­
but Brazilian art slept peacefully, and went on sleeping
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