Alice Brill (Cologne, Germany 1920 - Itu SP 2013)
Alice Brill was a photographer, painter, printmaker and draftswoman. She arrived in Brazil in 1934, fleeing Nazism. She frequented the Grupo Santa Helena in São Paulo in the first half of the 1940s. Between 1946 and 1947, she took courses in the United States, at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and at the Art Students League in New York.
On returning to Brazil, she worked for the magazine Habitat, for which she photographed architecture and works of art between 1948 and 1960. At the invitation of Pietro Maria Bardi (1900 - 1999), director of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (Masp), she carried out, in 1953 and 1954, an extensive photographic project on everyday life in the city of São Paulo. Her work as a photographer was concentrated mainly between 1948 and 1960.
At the same time, she devoted herself to oil painting, with an emphasis on the urban landscape. In later work, she moved closer to abstraction. She graduated in Philosophy from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP) in 1976. She completed her master's degree in 1982 and her doctorate in 1994, both at the Universidade de São Paulo (USP).
Among other titles, she published the books Mario Zanini e Seu Tempo [Mario Zanini and His Time] (1984) and Samson Flexor – Do Figurativismo ao Abstracionismo [Samson Flexor – From Figuration to Abstraction] (1990). In 2005, the retrospective O Mundo de Alice Brill [The World of Alice Brill] was held, featuring part of her photographic output held in the collection of the Instituto Moreira Salles.
Critical Commentary
At the request of Pietro Maria Bardi (1900 - 1999), director of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand - Masp, Alice Brill carried out, between 1953 and 1954, a major photographic project on the city of São Paulo. In these images, the artist reveals the urban space and daily life of São Paulo, as in Movimento na Rua Direita [Movement on Rua Direita] (ca. 1953).
From the beginning of her career, the artist also devoted herself to oil painting, likewise exploring the urban landscape. In the 1960s, her paintings showing human figures among rows of houses or in apartments stand out, revealing loneliness in the metropolis. She combines the strong structure of her canvases with a refined use of color, and creates unexpected formal relationships in the landscape. In later paintings, she maintains a dialogue with abstraction and explores textures in works of tonal richness. Throughout her career, Alice Brill also carried out research on Brazilian artists and published texts on Mario Zanini (1907 - 1971) and Flexor (1907 - 1971), among others.
Critiques
"Alice Brill, a painter who, on the one hand, remains faithful to her style of imagery, with very firm composition and motifs similar to one another, on the other hand knows how to develop her works always with new elements, especially tonal richness. Thus, the works now on view confront us once again with her more mature and highly personal style, in pictorial solutions entirely her own. Some of these works continue to show motifs of buildings and large old houses; others are more animated compositions that include tree forms and other elements of nature, escaping verticality and achieving greater movement in the filled spaces. The texture of these images, which in earlier phases the artist generally fixed firmly on the planes, now vibrates and uses scratchings that make them extremely beautiful. For these reasons we consider the current phase of Alice Brill's painting to be of great value, in addition to her constant dedication to good painting. In my view, it has the character of a liberation toward new fields of interpretation, in the sense of highly refined and strictly pictorial work. It is a new attitude of ascent through which Alice, who with her earlier works already belongs to an important sector of São Paulo painting, continues to be an active artist, in perpetual renewal of her research, which gives her a prominent position in our milieu".
Wolfgang Pfeiffer
BRILL, Alice. Alice Brill. São Paulo: Galeria Alberto Bonfiglioli, 1979.
"All of this record, seen today, carries nostalgia for a city that was once more elegant and harmonious. Alice Brill, owing to her stronger artistic training and the direct influence of painting and drawing, photographed the city of São Paulo in the 1950s in a more constructive and graphic way. Her gaze, the privileged sense of our century and the main mediator between the subject and objective, dynamic reality, is more poetic, refined and transformative".
Rubens Fernandes Junior
CARBONCINI, Anna (coord.). Coleção Pirelli/MASP de Fotografias: v. 7. São Paulo: MASP, 1997.
Testimonials
"Photography has been with me since childhood. My father, a traveling painter, was also an excellent photographer, and many of his photos were published.
When my mother and I left Germany, fleeing Nazism, I was 12 years old, and I took with me a gift from my father, a box-type Agfa mini camera that produced 3 x 4 cm photos. With it I recorded my impressions of the journey through Spain and Italy before our final emigration to Brazil. I have always been closely connected to the representation of images, practicing drawing and painting as well as photography. This activity helped me a great deal to overcome the difficulties that an emigrant's life imposes.
I arrived in Brazil in August 1934 and went to school until I had mastered Portuguese. Between work and study, I began seeking out artists for contact and learning in my free time, which was made easier by my job at an international bookshop that also dealt in reproductions and art books, a rarity in the city, where there was not yet any museum or gallery of modern art.
When I obtained a scholarship after the war, in 1946, I was able to attend the College of Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque, for a year. Alongside painting, I enrolled in the basic photography course offered there, as well as other subjects. The photography course was thrilling and strengthened my intention to become a photographer. Then I had a semester of classes at the Art Students League in New York, with time left over for volunteer work with an established photographer, where I also learned to retouch prints.
I managed to save the money needed to buy my basic photographic equipment and set up a darkroom, above all an Omega enlarger, and I returned to São Paulo in early 1948 determined to establish myself as a photographer. The small two-story house my mother had rented had a spacious basement that served this purpose well.
That same year, I was invited to accompany, as photographer, a delegation of federal deputies on an inspection trip to the works of the Fundação Brasil Central, including a visit to the Karajá Indians of Bananal Island.
This assignment matched my aspiration to do photographic reportage. The experience was extremely interesting and produced a great many good images; I came home with a large order for prints. I always worked with a Rolleiflex and, occasionally, with a 35mm Ikonta.
In São Paulo I came into contact with the Museu de Arte (Masp) and the Museu de Arte Moderna (MAM), both newly founded and still located on Rua 7 de Abril, and with the editors of the first architecture and art magazine, Habitat, of which I was the official photographer throughout its existence, responsible for the reproductions of artists' works and of the Bienais discussed in its pages. For the museums I also reproduced works from the collection and the exhibitions, a service I often performed for the artists as well. This work brought me very close to my fellow artists, whom I had the opportunity to portray, often with their families.
Alongside this work, I devoted myself to photographing children, with an approach very different from the rigid pose that was still the norm at the time. I would go to the child's home to photograph them in their own environment, outdoors if possible, as if it were a visit. I sought the child's trust so I could catch them by surprise in their activities, thus obtaining very natural expressions. I used several films, with colored pages, spiral-bound, which I made at home, with considerable success.
In the early 1950s, Professor Bardi, director of Masp, presented me with a project for a photographic report on the city of São Paulo, on the occasion of the celebrations of its 4th Centenary. I was enthusiastic about this work, which resulted in many photos of the city, not only of the center but also of its outskirts and its various neighborhoods, with their different types of housing, from the poorest shack to the luxury of the most elegant houses and buildings (still few!). I also tried to record squares and streets and the inhabitants, caught in their everyday activities. (...)
When I returned to painting in the 1960s, I did not give up photography, continuing to record my impressions in Brazil and abroad and doing the darkroom work myself while we kept our house. Only in the mid-1980s, when we moved to an apartment, did I stop the darkroom work, continuing to photograph on occasional trips with an Olympus camera, much lighter and in color. I obtained some interesting results, especially on a study trip to Indonesia, which have not yet been exhibited".
Alice Brill
Collections
Acervo do Banco Central - São Paulo SP
Acervo Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo, MAC/USP - São Paulo SP
Acervo Museu da Imagem e do Som, MIS - São Paulo SP
Biblioteca Municipal Mário de Andrade - São Paulo SP
Coleção Pirelli/Masp - São Paulo SP
Coleção Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, MAM/SP - São Paulo SP
Museu Banespa - São Paulo SP
Solo Exhibitions
1948 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Domus
1964 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Casa do Artista Plástico
1965 - Porto Alegre RS - Solo, at Galeria Carraro
1966 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria São Luís
1967 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Astréia
1967 - Santos SP - Solo, at Galeria do CCBEU
1969 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Cosme Velho
1969 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Galeria Goeldi
1970 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Solo, at Galeria Buerdeke
1971 - Campinas SP - Solo, at Galeria Girassol
1973 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Cosme Velho
1974 - Campinas SP - Solo, at Galeria Hobjeto
1976 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Documenta
1977 - Brasília DF - Solo, at Oscar Seraphico Galeria de Arte
1978 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Paulo Prado
1979 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Bonfiglioli
1981 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Paulo Prado
1983 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Bonfiglioli
1988 - Brasília DF - Solo, at Galeria Dreer
1988 - São Paulo SP - On Art and Language, at Sesc Paulista
1990 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Espaço Cultural Banco Central do Brasil
1992 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Museu Banespa
1994 - São Paulo SP - Alice Brill: Paintings, at MAC/USP
Group Exhibitions
1944 - São Paulo SP - 9th Salon of the Visual Artists' Union, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1947 - São Paulo SP - 11th Salon of the Visual Artists' Union
1948 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Domus
1948 - São Paulo SP - 12th Visual Artists Union Salon - Mário de Andrade Prize
1951 - São Paulo SP - 1st Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, at Pavilhão do Trianon
1954 - São Paulo SP - 3rd São Paulo Salon of Modern Art, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1957 - São Paulo SP - Proposals, at Faap
1959 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Antigonova
1959 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Kaboré
1959 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Selearte
1961 - São Paulo SP - 10th São Paulo Salon of Modern Art, at Galeria Prestes Maia - small silver medal
1962 - São Paulo SP - 11th São Paulo Salon of Modern Art, at Galeria Prestes Maia - silver medal
1962 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Kaboré
1962 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Antigonova
1962 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Selearte
1963 - São Paulo SP - 12th São Paulo Salon of Modern Art, at Galeria Prestes Maia - small gold medal
1964 - São Paulo SP - 13th São Paulo Salon of Modern Art - small silver medal
1965 - Campinas SP - 1st Campinas Contemporary Art Salon - silver medal
1965 - Itu SP - Group show, at Galeria de Arte Saci
1965 - Punta del Este (Uruguay) - Modern Art Biennial
1965 - Ribeirão Preto SP - Group show, at Galeria 4 Artes
1965 - São Paulo SP - 14th São Paulo Salon of Modern Art, at Galeria Prestes Maia - silver medal and acquisition prize
1965 - São Paulo SP - Proposals 65, at MAB/Faap
1966 - Campinas SP - 2nd Campinas Contemporary Art Salon
1966 - Salvador BA - 1st National Visual Arts Biennial
1966 - São Paulo SP - 15th São Paulo Salon of Modern Art, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1966 - São Paulo SP - Patches, at Galeria 4 Planetas
1967 - Campinas SP - 3rd Campinas Contemporary Art Salon
1967 - São Caetano do Sul SP - Contemporary Art Salon - bronze medal
1967 - São Paulo SP - 16th São Paulo Salon of Modern Art, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1967 - São Paulo SP - 9th Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, at Fundação Bienal
1968 - Salvador BA - 2nd National Visual Arts Biennial
1968 - Santos SP - 1st Santos Official Contemporary Art Salon
1968 - São Paulo SP - 17th São Paulo Salon of Modern Art
1968 - São Paulo SP - 1st Faap International Printmaking Exhibition
1969 - Israel - Brazilian Printmakers and Draftsmen in Israel
1969 - São Paulo SP - 1st Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1969 - São Paulo SP - 1st São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon
1970 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Group show, at Galeria Goeldi
1970 - São Paulo SP - 2nd Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1970 - São Paulo SP - 2nd São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon
1970 - São Paulo SP - São Paulo Pre-Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1971 - Jundiaí SP - 1st Jundiaí Art Meeting
1971 - Paris (France) - Salon d'Automne
1971 - São Paulo SP - 3rd São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon
1971 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Azulão
1971 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Bonfiglioli
1972 - Jundiaí SP - 2nd Jundiaí Art Meeting
1972 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Group show, at Galeria Vernissage
1972 - Santo André SP - Santo André Salon
1972 - São Caetano do Sul SP - São Caetano Salon
1972 - São Paulo SP - 4th São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon
1972 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Kalendas
1973 - Santos SP - 2nd Visual Arts Biennial
1973 - São Paulo SP - 5th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1974 - São Paulo SP - 5th São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon
1975 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Bonfiglioli
1976 - São Paulo SP - 10th Expo-Art and Ecological Thought, at Câmara Municipal de São Paulo
1976 - São Paulo SP - 8th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1977 - Tokyo (Japan) - 3rd Brazil-Japan Fine Arts Exhibition
1978 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 18th Art and Ecological Thought Exhibition, at Biblioteca Euclides da Cunha
1978 - São Paulo SP - 16th Art and Ecological Thought, at Cetesb
1979 - São Paulo SP - 11th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1980 - Itu SP - Various Trends Exhibition
1980 - Penápolis SP - 4th Noroeste Visual Arts Salon, at Fundação Educacional de Penápolis. Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Penápolis
1980 - Santos SP - 5 Trends, at CCBEU
1981 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Galeria Azulão
1982 - Beirute (Lebanon) - Group show, at Galeria Chahine
1982 - São Paulo SP - Contemporary Artists, at Associação Atlética do Banco do Brasil
1982 - São Paulo SP - Ismenia Coaracy, Odetto Guersoni and Alice Brill, at Galeria Sesc Paulista
1983 - São Paulo SP - The City in Art, at CCSP
1983 - São Paulo SP - Women at MAM, at MAM/SP
1983 - São Paulo SP - Women at MAM, at Senac
1983 - São Paulo SP - Artescultura
1984 - São Paulo SP - Photography and the 1950s, at MAC/USP
1986 - New York (United States) - Conexus Project, at Museum of Hispanic Art
1986 - São Paulo SP - Art on Paper, at Galeria Paulo Figueiredo
1986 - São Paulo SP - Exhibition Commemorating the Anniversary of São Paulo
1986 - São Paulo SP - Group Show, at Escritório de Arte Regina Sampaio
1988 - Ohio (United States) - Group show, at Gallery of Fine Art, Columbus University
1988 - São Paulo SP - Art on Paper, at Galeria Paulo Figueiredo
1988 - São Paulo SP - Juréia, at Sadalla Galeria de Arte
1988 - São Paulo SP - Exhibition of the 13th Maccabiah Games, at Clube Hebraica
1989 - United States - Connections Projects: Conexus, at Museu de Arte Contemporânea
1992 - São Paulo SP - Portrait of the Artist, Twelve Photographers Portraying Great Artists, at Masp
1993 - São Paulo SP - Immigrants, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1993 - São Paulo SP - Small Formats, Few Words, at Galeria Documenta
1994 - São Paulo SP - Flags: 60 Artists Celebrate USP's 60th Anniversary, at MAC/USP
1994 - São Paulo SP - Immigrants from German-Speaking Peoples - Photos from the 1950s, at MAC/USP
1994 - São Paulo SP - On Photography, at MAC/USP
1994 - São Paulo SP - O Olhar e o Ficar [The Gaze and the Staying]. The Search for Paradise, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1996 - São Paulo SP - Flags, at Galeria de Arte do Sesi
1996 - São Paulo SP - Figure and Landscape in the MAM Collection: Tribute to Volpi, at MAM/SP
1997 - São Paulo SP - 7th Pirelli/Masp Photography Collection, at Masp
2001 - Itatiba SP - Brazilian Photographers, at Centro Mandala
2001 - São Paulo SP - Porto Seguro Photography Prize Exhibition, at Espaço Porto Seguro Fotografia - Porto Seguro Special Prize
2002 - São Paulo SP - Art and the Unconscious: Three Views on Juquery, at Instituto Moreira Salles
2003 - São Paulo SP - Israel and Palestine: Two States for Two Peoples, at Sesc Pompeia
2004 - São Paulo SP - Paper Cabinet, at CCSP
2004 - São Paulo SP - São Paulo 450 Years: the Image and Memory of the City in the Instituto Moreira Salles Collection, at Centro Cultural Fiesp
Source: Itaú Cultural
