Aurélio de Figueiredo (Areia PB 1854 - Rio de Janeiro RJ 1916)
Painter, caricaturist, designer, sculptor, writer.
Francisco Aurélio de Figueiredo e Mello frequents, as a teenager, the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts - Aiba, in Rio de Janeiro, under the guidance of his brother, the painter Pedro Américo (1843 - 1905), and of Jules Le Chevrel (ca.1810 - 1872). In 1871, he published his first caricatures in The Social Comedy. He also collaborates as a caricaturist in the illustrated week, from 1873 to 1875, with themed series, such as the Mysteries of Every Day in the Court, from 1874. He travels to Europe and resides in Florence, between 1876 and 1878. At that time, he works at his brother's studio and studies with Antonio Ciseri (1821 - 1891), Nicolò Barabino (1832 - 1891) and Stefano Ussi (1822 - 1901), all painters of history, genre and portrait. Returning to Brazil, he collaborates, between 1878 and 1879, with the periodical Diabo Coxo, in Recife. In the 1880s, he visited other European countries and participated in several editions of the General Exhibition of Fine Arts. He became known for the Francesca da Rimini paintings, from 1893, and The Last Ball on Ilha Fiscal, 1905. He also produces portraits, still lifes, genre scenes and landscapes. His production is presented in two individual exhibitions: the first in 1912, at the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios de São Paulo, and the second, posthumous, in 1956, at the National Museum of Fine Arts - MNBA, Rio de Janeiro.
Critical Comment
Aurélio de Figueiredo studies painting at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts - Aiba with Jules Le Chevrel (ca.1810 - 1872) and with Pedro Américo (1843 - 1905), his brother. From the 1870s onwards, he works for publications such as Social Comedy and Illustrated Week. For historian Herman Lima, these caricatures stand out for their vigorous and elegant trait, correct and clean design and harmonic composition. Back in Rio de Janeiro, he also makes frequent trips to Europe and has intense activity as a painter, exhibiting in successive halls.
He became known mainly as a painter of history, with works such as Francesca da Rimini (1883) and the last ball fiscal (1905). However, as the critic Gonzaga Duque points out, in his small format production, as in genre paintings and landscapes, he proves to be more innovative: "In small genre paintings, in allegories, in the brush fantasies, Aurélio's talent has a characteristic feature. It can be seen that all the work is spontaneous and fast. In the lines, the simplest, the artist's always light and light hand is known; in the touches, the most insignificant, the brush passes with the same ease". Art historian Luciano Migliaccio, in works such as O Glass of Water (1893) The artist treats the genre scene with a symbolist sensibility, which precedes certain works by Visconti (1866-1944).
Notes
1 Duke, Gonzaga. Brazilian art. Campinas: Mercado de Letras, 1995, p. 190.
Criticism
"Less gifted that Pedro Américo, became a painter of appreciable resources, sometimes leaving a certain inclination towards romanticism, in inspiration, although in technique there is no depart from academic conventionalism, devoid, as always, from any pictorial spontaneity or drawing nervousness. His production is polymorphic, also addressing caricature, sculpture and literature. for composition and execution".
Quirino Campofiorito
Campofioritus, Quirino. History of Brazilian painting in the 19th century. Rio de Janeiro: Pinakotheke, 1983.
"(...) Francisco Aurélio distinguished himself as a painter of good resources and technical precision. Execution of large screens. Despite having carried out a production of formally conventional characteristics, he stood out for his acuity in the chromatic treatment, as well as for the rigor in the detailing of drapings, tapestries and ornaments".
Research team of the MNBA
The National Museum of Fine Arts. Preface by Alcidio Mafra de Souza. Edited by Alcidio Mafra de Souza. Texts by Abbadia Caparelli et al. São Paulo: Banco Safra, 1985.
Individual exhibitions
1912 - São Paulo SP - Painting exhibition by Aurélio de Figueiredo, at the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios de São Paulo in the Congregation of the Gymnasium of São Paulo
Collective exhibitions
1871 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Show Drawing Figurative, at AIBA - Silver medal and small gold medal
1884 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 26th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Aiba
1894 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba
1895 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 2nd General Exhibition of Fine Arts, NA ENBA
1896 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 3rd General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba
1898 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 5th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba
1899 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at ENBA
1901 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 8th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba
1902 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 9th General Exhibition of Fine Arts ENBA
1912 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 19th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba
1915 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 22nd General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba
1916 - Rio de Janeiro January RJ - 23rd General Exhibition of Fine Arts, NA ENBA
Posthumous exhibitions
1940 - São Paulo SP - Retrospective Exhibition: Works of the great masters of painting and his disciples, at the Almeida Júnior Art Salon of the City Hall Municipality of São Paulo
1948 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Retrospective of painting in Brazil, at MNBA
1950 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - A century of Brazilian painting: 1850-1950, at MNBA
1950 - Bahia - a century of Brazilian painting: 1850-1950, s.l.
1950 - Paraíba - A century of Brazilian painting: 1850-1950, s.l.
1950 - Pernambuco - A century of Brazilian painting: 1850-1950, s.l.
1953 - São Paulo SP - 2nd São Paulo International Biennial, at the State Pavilion
1956 - Rio de January RJ - Exhibition commemorating the centenary of the artist's birth, at the MNBA
1977 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Aspects of the Brazilian landscape: 1816-1916, at MNBA
1980 - São Paulo SP - The landscape Brazilian: 1650-1976, at the Paço das Artes
1984 - São Paulo SP - Tradition and Rupture: Brazilian Art and Culture Synthesis, at the Bienal Foundation
1985 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Parade of works, at the Galeria Collection of Art
1986 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The woman and the feminine in Brazilian painting: 1800-1930, at the Art Gallery Collection
1986 - São Paulo SP - Nineteenth: a turn in the century, in the Pinacoteca do Estado
1989 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Rio de Janeiro by Machado de Assis, at CCBB 
2000 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition. Letter from Pero Vaz de Caminha, at the National Historical Museum
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brazil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition, at the Bienal Foundation
2005 - São Paulo SP - Homo Ludens: from the make-believe to the Vertigem, at Itaú Cultural
2010 - São Paulo SP - 6th SP-Arte, at the Bienal Foundation
Source: Itaú Cultural
