Emygdio de Barros (Paraíba do Sul RJ 1895 - Rio de Janeiro RJ 1986)
Painter.
Intern of the Psychiatric Hospital D. Pedro II since 1920, began his artistic studies, in 1946, in the painting studio of this institution, maintained by the Occupational Therapy Service of the National Psychiatric Center.
Criticism
"Emygdio (...) builds your world by color. Creation in this is by succession; it is layers of imagination that come and go like waves. It can be said that he paints closely and imagines from afar. His landscapes, even when natural, do not copy reality, resulting in shapes taken from the place and intertwined with other imaginary elements. These natural motifs, he takes them day by day and accumulates them in the magic lantern of his imaginary (...). These visions, the artist does the debugging, selects within this kaleidoscope, which is his inner imaginary, what should and should not be transformed into form and color. In this selection effort, the drama of its elaboration is hidden; The reason for this succession of paintings, so to speak, that he paints one on top of the other, until he finds the final order, plastic relationships that satisfy him. (...) In his painting there is neither a grotesque nor a delusion nor a nightmare denoted in his painting, but a poetic force, a lyricism, a metaphysical vigor, a humor, a moderate expressionism of a true artist. Emygdio unites the subjective with the objective in a pictorial plot that is always fascinating".
Mário Pedrosa
Museum of Images of the Unconscious. Presentation by Mário Pedrosa and Afonso Henriques Neto. Plasticas, Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Text by Nise da Silveira et al. Rio de Janeiro: 1980. (Brazilian Museums, 2).
"Emygdio de Barros is perhaps the only genius of Brazilian painting. A genius is neither worse nor better than anyone else. With respect to him there is no term of comparison: a genius is a blazing loneliness, it goes beyond measures and categories. It is not possible to define it according to artistic schools, vanguards, styles, métier. Regarding Emygdio, we can say that rarely any pictorial work was able to convey the feeling of wonder we received from his paintings. There are many works of art of great beauty. There are those who fascinate us with the balance of their elements, the musicality of their rhythms, like there are others, whose strength lies in the contrasts, in the intensity, in the passion. Most of these works participate in a cultural process that informs them and is reflected in them. It is not difficult to catalog them and insert them in this or that moment, in this or that trend or school. Emygdio's painting is out of such conditionings and classifications".
Ferreira Gullar
Images of the Unconscious. Presentation by Mário Pedrosa and Afonso Henriques Neto. edited by Instituto Nacional de Artes Plasticas, Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Text by Nise da Silveira et al. Rio de Janeiro: 1980. (Brazilian Museums, 2).
Individual exhibitions
1951 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - individual, at the Instituto Brasil-Estados Unido
1964 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at the Museum of Images of the Unconscious of the D. Pedro II Psychiatric Center
Collective exhibitions
1947 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Exhibition of the Interns of the National Psychiatric Center, at the Ministry of Education
1949 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 9 artists from Engenho de Dentro, in the noble hall of the City Council
1950 - São Paulo SP - 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 the Pavilion of States  
1955 - Neuchâtel (Switzerland) - Brazilian Primitive and Modern Arts Exhibition, at the Ethnography Museum
1981 - São Paulo SP - 16th São Paulo International Biennial, at the Bienal Foundation
Posthetic exhibitions
1987 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Innumerable States of the Being, in the Imperial Palace
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brazil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition. Images of the unconscious, at Fundação Bienal
2000 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition. Images of the unconscious, in the Imperial Palace
Source: Itaú Cultural
