Emygdio de Barros (Paraíba do Sul RJ 1895 - Rio de Janeiro RJ 1986)
Painter.
A patient at the Hospital Psiquiátrico D. Pedro II since 1920, he began his artistic studies in 1946 at the institution's painting studio, run by the Occupational Therapy Service of the Centro Psiquiátrico Nacional.
Critiques
"Emygdio (...) builds his world through color. Creation in him happens by succession; there are layers of imagination that come and go like waves. One could say that he paints up close and imagines from afar. His landscapes, even when painted from nature, do not copy reality; the result is forms taken from the place and interwoven with other imaginary elements. These natural motifs he gathers day by day and keeps accumulating in the magic lantern of his imagery (...). Emygdio is a sensitive plate. Nothing of pictorial interest passes before his retina without remaining. Later, when the time comes to transfer these visions to the canvas, the artist distills them. He selects, within this kaleidoscope that is his inner imagery, what should and should not be turned into form and color. In this effort of selection lies the drama of his creative process; the reason for this succession of pictures, so to speak, which he paints one on top of the other until he finds the final order, visual relations that satisfy him. (...) In his painting there is neither the grotesque, nor delirium, nor nightmare, but rather a poetic force, a lyricism, a metaphysical vigor, a humor, a moderate expressionism of a true artist. Emygdio unites the subjective and the objective in a pictorial weave that is always fascinating".
Mário Pedrosa
Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente. Apresentação de Mário Pedrosa e Afonso Henriques Neto. Editado por INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ARTES PLÁSTICAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Texto de Nise da Silveira et al. Rio de Janeiro: 1980. (Museus brasileiros, 2).
"Emygdio de Barros is perhaps the only genius of Brazilian painting. A genius is neither worse nor better than anyone. With regard to him there is no term of comparison: a genius is a dazzling solitude; he exceeds measures and categories. It is not possible to define him in terms of artistic schools, avant-gardes, styles, métier. With regard to Emygdio, we can say that rarely has any pictorial work been able to convey to us the sense of wonder we receive from his paintings. There are many works of art, and of great beauty. There are those that fascinate us through the balance of their elements, the musicality of their rhythms, just as there are others whose strength lies in contrasts, in intensity, in passion. Most of these works take part in a cultural process that shapes them and is reflected in them. It is not difficult to catalog them and place them in this or that moment, this or that tendency or school. Emygdio's painting lies outside such conditioning and classifications".
Ferreira Gullar
Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente. Apresentação de Mário Pedrosa e Afonso Henriques Neto. Editado por INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ARTES PLÁSTICAS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Texto de Nise da Silveira et al. Rio de Janeiro: 1980. (Museus brasileiros, 2).
Solo Exhibitions
1951 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Instituto Brasil-Estados Unidos
1964 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Museu de Imagens do Inconsciente do Centro Psiquiátrico D. Pedro II
Group Exhibitions
1947 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Mostra dos internos do Centro Psiquiátrico Nacional [Exhibition by Patients of the Centro Psiquiátrico Nacional], at Ministério da Educação
1949 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 9 Artistas do Engenho de Dentro [9 Artists from Engenho de Dentro], at Salão Nobre da Câmara Municipal
1950 - São Paulo SP - 9 Artistas do Engenho de Dentro [9 Artists from Engenho de Dentro], at MAM/SP
1952 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Exhibition of Brazilian Artists, at MAM/RJ
1953 - São Paulo SP - 2nd São Paulo International Biennial, at Pavilhão dos Estados
1955 - Neuchâtel (Switzerland) - Mostra de Artes Primitiva e Moderna Brasileiras [Exhibition of Brazilian Primitive and Modern Art], at Museu de Etnografia
1981 - São Paulo SP - 16th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
Posthumous Exhibitions
1987 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Innumerable States of Being, at Paço Imperial
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brasil + 500 Mostra do Redescobrimento: Imagens do Inconsciente [Brazil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition: Images of the Unconscious], at Fundação Bienal
2000 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brasil + 500 Mostra do Redescobrimento: Imagens do Inconsciente [Brazil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition: Images of the Unconscious], at Paço Imperial
Source: Itaú Cultural
