Ernesto de Fiori

Ernesto de Fiori (Roma, Itália 1884 - São Paulo SP 1945)

Ernesto de Fiori was a sculptor, painter and draftsman. At the age of 19 he moved to Munich, where he studied drawing with Gabriel von Hackl (1843 - 1926) at the Königliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste (Royal Academy of Fine Arts). In 1905 he returned to Rome and probably received guidance from the German painter and lithographer Otto Greiner (1869 - 1916).

Between 1911 and 1914 he lived in Paris, where he made his first sculptures with the help of the Swiss artist Hermann Haller (1880 - 1950) and became part of the city's intellectual and artistic milieu. In 1915, after being detained for 14 days in France on suspicion of espionage, he enlisted in the German army and worked as a correspondent for an Italian periodical. After obtaining German citizenship, he went on to fight as a soldier.

In 1917 he left military service and moved to Zurich. Between 1918 and 1919 he became involved in a controversy with the Dada movement over the concept of art. For De Fiori there was no new art without reference to the past, and he opposed any movement that sought to break with earlier art.

In 1936 he moved to Brazil and settled in São Paulo. He wrote articles for newspapers of the German and Italian communities and, later, for O Estado de S. Paulo. In 1938 he took part in the Arts Integration Program of the Ministry of Education and Health, modeling a series of sculptures that were rejected for not meeting official requirements.

Besides his sculptural production, De Fiori also devoted himself to painting. His works stand out for contrasts created by varied techniques, such as rapid brushstrokes or strokes thinned with solvent, and the use of toothed tools, among others. In the early 1940s he took part in meetings with art critics and artists in the studio of Rossi Osir (1890 - 1959) to discuss art. His painting had a great influence on the São Paulo art scene.

Critical Commentary

In 1904 Ernesto de Fiori entered the Königliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste [Royal Academy of Fine Arts] in Munich and attended the drawing class of the German painter Gabriel von Hackl (1843 - 1926). Later he met the Swiss sculptor Hermann Haller (1880 - 1950) and the German painter Karl Hofer (1878 - 1955), with whom he maintained an intense artistic dialogue. He began exhibiting his paintings, whose pictorial solutions come close to those of the Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler (1853 - 1918). From 1911 to 1914 he lived in Paris, where he frequented the Café du Dôme, a place of great cultural ferment that brought together artists, critics and collectors. In that city he worked and took part in discussions on the new artistic trends, and came into contact with the German painter Hugo Troendle (1882 - 1955) and the Italian sculptor Arturo Martini (1889 - 1947). He became acquainted with the works of French masters such as Paul Cézanne (1839 - 1906) and Auguste Rodin (1840 - 1917).

De Fiori continued to paint. He began to model, receiving technical training from Hermann Haller. He made his first sculptures in 1911, among them Ajoelhada [Kneeling Woman] and Moça Andando [Young Woman Walking], notably O Sofredor [The Sufferer], which depicts a young man who, in a gesture of suffering, turns back and clasps his body with his arms. In this work the artist emphasizes the figure's psychological charge. In later sculptures, such as Anastasius, Ursula (both 1912) and Dançarino [Dancer] (1914/1915), he works with formal reduction, in dialogue with Cubism. His sculpture acquires rounded volumes, and a study of movement can be seen in the figures.

Involved in the First World War (1914 - 1918) from 1915 as correspondent for an Italian newspaper, he resumed his artistic activities in 1917 in Zurich. In 1918 he wrote an article-manifesto criticizing the art of the Dadaists and clarifying his concept of new art: it must maintain a dialogue with tradition in order to be able to distinguish what is new, and seek means to express "the feeling of the newly awakened world" and "the totality of life, its intuitions".1 Besides volumes and colors, art must be made of spiritual qualities that convey sensations to us, such as joy and pain. In Europe and later in Brazil, De Fiori expressed his ideas in several articles.

His figures came to be made more freely, without the limits of schematization, more faithful to the human form, acquiring a certain Expressionist link, as in A Banhista [The Bather] (1917), a standing female figure in a pose expressing tranquility and feeling. In the 1920s he moved from Zurich to Berlin and made his first portraits, such as the head of the dancer Carina Ari (1922). He modeled three versions of Adão [Adam] (1920), a male figure who, while walking, turns back in greeting with his right hand raised. He also made sculptures, drawings and lithographs of boxers. He also produced the series Homem em Marcha [Man Marching], the bust of Marlene Dietrich (ca. 1929) and O Fugitivo [The Fugitive] (1936), among other works. The central theme of his sculptures is always the human body, suggesting movement or at rest, executed in rough modeling with a strong psychological charge.

In 1936 he left Germany, then dominated by Nazism, and arrived in São Paulo. His first sculptures made in Brazil include portraits of Menotti del Picchia (1892 - 1988), Francisco Matarazzo and Greta Garbo, the latter done from memory. At the same time he made female nudes in which he emphasized the plasticity of the bodies. The painting he did here privileges figuration, depicting landscapes in a first phase, with scenes of forest, farms, burnings and riverbanks. The river journey he made from Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, to Guaíra was the source for these pictures. On the canvases color and form merge; colors are laid over others, generating forms that intersect with new colors and make up the composition. Thinned, rapid brushstrokes suggest the figures, as can be seen in Paisagem com Vacas [Landscape with Cows] (1942). In the early 1940s he painted urban scenes of São Paulo: streets with angular layouts, with trees and solitary, hurried passers-by, sometimes with skyscrapers, chimneys, avenues or churches in the background. In Paisagem Urbana [Urban Landscape] (1941) the figures are formed by merging with other pictorial elements, including, in the case of the gouaches, the color of the paper, which becomes part of the composition like paint. In his third solo exhibition in São Paulo he showed some paintings with themes such as São Jorge e o Dragão [Saint George and the Dragon] or battles. According to the artist, they refer to the struggle being waged in the world: wars of philosophies and religions, times of hatred and violence. He thus painted warriors fighting for freedom and human dignity.

Ernesto de Fiori's presence in São Paulo in the late 1930s and early 1940s helped open new horizons in the city's art scene, which was still very provincial. His painting, figurative yet gestural and free, left its mark on the work of artists linked to the Família Artística Paulista - FAP, such as Mario Zanini (1907 - 1971) and Joaquim Figueira (1904 - 1943), and also on the work of Alfredo Volpi (1896 - 1988), especially in some of his seascapes.

Notes

1 Ernesto de Fiori, quoted in: LAUDANNA, Mayra. A pintura em Ernesto de Fiori. In: LAUDANNA, Mayra (org.). Ernesto de Fiori: uma retrospectiva. São Paulo: Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, 1997, p. 26.

Critiques

"As a sculptor, De Fiori stands halfway between the generation that still obeyed the postulates of Hildebrand's monumental style and the one that would embrace abstraction: far from classical evocations, and also seeking to avoid a naturalistic stance, De Fiori sought to impose on his nudes and portraits of living personalities an entirely personal expressive force, always concerned with capturing, through restrained gesture, the inner essence of his models. His sculpture is painterly, in the sense that the bronze and terracotta it is made of are never polished".
José Roberto Teixeira Leite
LEITE, José Roberto Teixeira. Ernesto de Fiori. In: Arte no Brasil. São Paulo: Abril Cultural, 1979, v. 2, p. 797.

"(...) Painting had marked the beginning of his career, between 1903 and 1911, within Hodlerian Expressionist characteristics. He then set it aside. As has been said elsewhere, two stages can be distinguished in his painting of the Brazilian phase: the first, of an objective realism in the treatment of landscape (until 1939); and the second, peaking in 1942-43, marked by the Expressionist emphasis of regatta scenes on the Santo Amaro reservoir, fights of Saint George and the Dragon, still lifes, isolated human figures, couples or groups and the series of Harlequins. In landscape he was moved by the desolation of the burnings, the rural setting and urban views, always shaped by rough, resolute brushstrokes. At times his narrative is excessive or verges on the picturesque, as also happened in his treatment of compositions with figures. In the representations of his second moment the full vehemence of the colorist would emerge. In battle scenes and in the fights of Saint George against the Dragon there was an implicit reference to the cause of the freedom of peoples and to the tragedy of the war under way. But it was in the seascapes that De Fiori's best paintings appeared, invested with plastic balance. Undoubtedly, he rediscovered the dimension of the painter in Brazil, but, in national as well as international terms, recognition of this body of work remains on hold to this day. On the other hand, there is abundant testimony to the activity of the European master, who influenced São Paulo artists directly and indirectly".
Walter Zanini
ZANINI, Walter (org.). História geral da arte no Brasil. São Paulo: Instituto Moreira Salles/Fundação Djalma Guimarães, 1983.

"When De Fiori arrived in 1936, São Paulo and Brazil were a new world to him, a world full of impressions of nature, a world of men of the most diverse types. De Fiori threw himself into this world with fervor; he immediately prepared an exhibition and accepted a series of portrait commissions. Here, too, the most significant faces led him to his most significant creations, in which he managed to capture form and content. The heads of Menotti del Picchia and Francisco Matarazzo are impressive, created with psychological mastery and plastic perfection. (...) In 1938 De Fiori was commissioned to create some figures for the Ministry of Education in Rio de Janeiro. Thus arose O Brasileiro [The Brazilian], Maternidade [Maternity] and Mulher Sentada [Seated Woman], figures that take up three entirely distinct themes in an attempt to present them in a new way. O Brasileiro, a slender male form, standing calmly; Maternidade, a female form seated on a block with a child on her lap; Mulher Sentada, a female form seated on the ground who seems immersed in inner contemplation. All three figures are masterfully modeled, but they do not seem to produce the alert, living contact that leaps immediately to the eye, for example, in the figures of the Engländerin (Englishwoman) and Adam (Adam). The figures seem withdrawn into themselves, almost shrunken. They did not bring De Fiori the success he would have needed in the country as an incentive for other, larger works. As a result, De Fiori turned to painting, his first passion, and there he shows himself unconcerned with this problematic and in some ways strange and hostile world. Sailing and painting, he could be entirely himself, forgetting for a moment the insoluble problem of his stay in Brazil and the impossibility of returning to Europe after 1939. In doing so, however, he was deprived of the soil capable of nourishing great sculptures, for which the exchange with the artistic forces of São Paulo, which at the time were merely latent, was not enough".
Wolfgang Pfeiffer
PFEIFFER, Wolfgang. Ernesto de Fiori. In: LAUDANNA, Mayra (org.). Ernesto de Fiori - Uma Retrospectiva. São Paulo: Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, 1997, p. 59-61.

"For De Fiori, many artists of the early century did not make art; yet he considered the 'artistic anarchy (...) that broke out in the fields of the European spirit necessary and beneficial'. The clarity is exemplary: De Fiori, witness to and participant in the artistic renewal of European art, shows in his articles that the pictorial and sculptural experiments of the early 20th century cannot be reduced to the conventions established in art history books. De Fiori, like many of his colleagues in Munich or Zurich, France or Germany, worked with clay and paint, promoting the modernization of the arts and rejecting the Schools of Fine Arts. De Fiori is not interested in the didactic prescriptions of some European artists and theorists of the 1910s and 1920s who sought to highlight the difference between 'naturalism' and 'abstraction'. For the artist, this difference is merely theoretical; in practice it does not occur.

(...)

Ernesto de Fiori's aesthetic is nature reinvented in thick, thinned, quick brushstrokes and pictorial lines that subvert what is understood by 'landscape painting', 'seascapes', 'scenes', themes that are articulated in the artist's painting. Often they are allegories that metaphorically recreate nameable figures and things while at the same time breaking with the reference they play with by suggesting others. (...)

In the artist's aesthetic, the subject is irrelevant to the work; nevertheless, it is what launches the artist into creation. Ernesto de Fiori's wish is for the work to present the spirit of the age, that of the artist and that of nature; by fusing them, it attains art. In De Fiori, color and form, as the composition of pictorial space, fuse together. Colors are laid over others which, superimposed or interwoven, raise up forms, or, dragged or scraped, produce other colors that merge as composition. Thinned brushstrokes are spread over areas of the canvas, suggesting figures or veiling spaces; often it is this liquid coat that fuses the spaces elaborated by different techniques, brushstrokes and rhythms.

The elements of Ernesto de Fiori's compositions are thus produced in the process of painting: as the colors are brushed on, generally with rapid strokes, figures take shape. In most of the paintings, other colors are laid over the first ones; to these, in areas or objects of the composition, new colors are added. Sometimes the last layer is made of paint thinned with solvent, used to lower the earlier tones. At other times what completes the work are pictorial strokes suggesting the haunch of a horse, the shoulders of a figure, facial features. One also observes the brush with dry paint over other paint, used to bring out figures (...), or the use of a toothed tool, which in some works highlights parts (...)".
Mayra Laudanna
LAUDANNA, Mayra. A pintura em Ernesto de Fiori. In: LAUDANNA, Mayra (org.). Ernesto de Fiori - Uma Retrospectiva. São Paulo: Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, 1997, p. 26 e 28-31.

"In 1918, in a Zurich newspaper, Ernesto de Fiori attacked Dadaism, the bull's-eye of 'new art'; the shot, ironically returned by Max Ernst, does not defend any prevailing art, but modernity itself. 'New art', a label in general circulation, includes, besides Dadaism, the abstraction, Cubism, Futurism and Simultaneism that surround it; De Fiori targets them as artistic positions that have aged but not entirely fallen. His critique of these movements persists in him later, becoming nuanced and extended over time; with the subsequent appearance of Surrealism, it comes to target modernism in general and, though broadened and circumstantially specified, both in his European and his Brazilian texts, it reveals a position established since 1918. Showing himself to be modern already in the proliferation of maxims current in the movements he attacked, an example of which is the 'primitive of the new times', to which Brazilian modernists such as Mário de Andrade also adhered, De Fiori's position is defined as a recognition of the perfection of withered classicism and the imperfection of nascent art. In the irreversible effacement of classicism and the extreme affirmation of the modern, it is history that rises to prominence in De Fiori, and his reflection confronts it poignantly. This position is already evident in 1918: whereas in the modernist slogans 'modern' is identified with 'new' in its opposition to 'old' or 'past', in De Fiori the two terms receive an interpretation that presents them as relative; by relativizing them, the artist isolates them from the notion, central to the modernisms, of rupture, which legitimizes them, especially when they are unleashed as avant-gardes".
Leon Kossovitch
KOSSOVITCH, Leon. A reflexão artística de Ernesto de Fiori. In: LAUDANNA, Mayra (org.). Ernesto de Fiori - Uma Retrospectiva. São Paulo: Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, 1997, p. 11.

"To tell the truth, I am not exactly against virtuosity, nor opposed to tricks such as scraping when they are put at the service of expression. Ernesto de Fiori, in his way of obtaining the substance of oil paint, does not reveal his personality as a sculptor. And this seems to me high praise, for I recognize that he is really making a painter's painting and not a sculptor's - which is very common. Instead of the bony matter of his bronzes, his oil is a voluptuous flesh, fat, full, in which one perceives the brush drowned in highly liquefied paint, coloring broad patches, where the scraping often half-reveals superimposed layers, achieving rich and unexpected effects that the painter wisely leaves as they are. And both through scraping and through other finishing processes, with a drier brush loaded with less liquefied oil, the artist achieves effects of vibration and a very fine multiplicity of half-tones. (...) But while I do not doubt that Ernesto de Fiori is thus a painter of excellent painting, it always seems to me that, in his works in color, he tends rather to remain within drawing, and it is the qualities and characteristics of drawing that he values most. In an interview he recently gave to one of São Paulo's evening papers, Ernesto de Fiori declared himself frankly in favor of the revival of the importance of subject matter in painting, censuring the painters who had abandoned it. In truth, subject matter has always existed in painting and always will. Even the abstract painting of our time ultimately draws its subject from the premise of having no subject: its subject is line and color, in complete gratuitousness. In this it is socially characteristic and proves to be one of the pictorial avatars of the snobbery of certain classes".
Mario de Andrade
ANDRADE, Mario de. Ernesto de Fiori. In: LAUDANNA, Mayra (org.). Ernesto de Fiori - Uma Retrospectiva. São Paulo: Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, 1997, p. 208. [texto originalmente publicado em Diários Associados, São Paulo, 2.4.1941].

Testimonials

"In today's art, research is everything. Not the realization of known values, not the false conscience of copying or imitating nature, not servile acquiescence to aesthetic dogmas imposed by a class or a government, and much less the presumptuous, self-promoting opposition to the conventionalism of the mediocre. (...) Art without formulas is evidently an art of research, which requires a 'laboratory' more than a studio; it is the fruit of many experiments, many mistakes and infinite doubts.

(...)

In the classical periods, one can say without fear of being superficial, art was easier because artists did nothing but carry on a great tradition up to that full flowering which was naturally to be followed by decline. We moderns have no tradition. It is true that we know all the artistic periods, all the styles, all the schools of this earth, but this knowledge is merely intellectual; none of these schools really lives in our blood, for the artistic anarchy that broke out (a necessary and beneficial storm) in the fields of the European spirit over the last thirty-five years cannot be called a school. In this anarchy, which dates from the end of the great artistic period of the last century, we should find the path to success; we should gather the scattered stones, sort them, measure them, adapt them and thereby try to rebuild that image of our consciousness called art. Every period has its artistic problems. Ours consists in creating a new art, that is, one that reproduces, through its style, the state of mind of this century, so profoundly different from past centuries. We find ourselves facing a splendid undertaking, but a very difficult, very delicate one...

(...)

I am convinced that artistic research must be limited to the problems of form, color, composition and harmony, in short, to the various values of a painting or sculpture. It is also my conviction that this art has no theme other than that of nature. Whoever seeks other themes far from visible nature goes beyond the limits of our art and enters regions that belong to the poet or the philosopher, the musician or the scientist. If he cannot do otherwise, let him change professions. These, in a few words, are my convictions. Whoever thinks I am wrong, let him prove it with his works. Freedom of research!"
Ernesto de Fiori
DE FIORI, Ernesto. A pesquisa da arte. In: LAUDANNA, Mayra (org.). Ernesto de Fiori - Uma Retrospectiva. São Paulo: Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, 1997, p. 113-114. [Texto originalmente publicado em O Estado de S. Paulo, 22 out. 1941].

Solo Exhibitions

1910 - Munich (Germany) - Solo
1920s - Berlin (Germany) - Bilder Ernesto de Fiori, at Galerie Flechtheim
1921 - Berlin (Germany) - Solo, at Galerie Fritz Gurlitt
1923 - Berlin (Germany) - Neue Bildwerke von Ernesto de Fiori, at Galerie Flechtheim
1935 - Berlin (Germany) - Skulpturen und Zeichnungen, at Galerie Buchholz
1936 - Berlin (Germany) - Skulpturen und Zeichnungen, at Galerie Buchholz
1936 - São Paulo SP - Ernesto de Fiori: Sculptures, Paintings and Drawings, at Galeria Guatapará
1939 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Casa e Jardim
1941 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Works by Ernesto de Fiori, at Galeria Casa e Jardim
1944 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Itá

Group Exhibitions

1909 - Vienna (Austria) - Internationale Kunstschau
1911 - Cologne (Germany) - Kunst unserer Zeit in Kölner Privatbesitz, organized by the Cologne Artists' League
1912 - Cologne (Germany) - Internationale Kunstausstellung des Sonderbundes Westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler zu Köln, at Kunsthalle am Aachener Tor
1912 - Munich (Germany) - 1. Gesamtausstellung, at Galerie Neue Kunst - Hans Goltz
1913 - Berlin (Germany) - Berliner Secession, Frühjahrausstellung
1913 - Berlin (Germany) - Berliner Secession, Herbstausstellung
1913 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Eröffnungausstellung Weihnachten, at Galerie Flechtheim
1913 - Munich (Germany) - 2. Gesamtausstellung, at Galerie Neue Kunst - Hans Goltz
1914 - Berlin (Germany) - 1. Ausstellung der Freie Secession Berlin
1914 - Bremen (Germany) - Internationale Ausstellung, at Kunsthalle
1914 - Cologne (Germany) - Deutsche Werkbundausstellung, at Galerie Flechtheim
1914 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - 3. Internationaler Markt, at Galerie Flechtheim
1914 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Der Dôme, at Galerie Flechtheim
1914 - Mannheim (Germany) - 2. Ausstellung von Zeichnungen und Plastiken Neuzeitlicher Bildhauer, at Städtische Kunsthalle
1914 - Munich (Germany) - 3. Gesamtausstellung, at Galerie Neue Kunst - Hans Goltz
1914 - Paris (France) - 30e Salon des Indépendants
1914 - Rome (Italy) - Prima Esposizione Libera Futurista, at Galleria Sprovieri
1915 - Munich (Germany) - 4. Gesamtausstellung, at Galerie Neue Kunst - Hans Goltz
1916 - Berlin (Germany) - 2. Ausstellung der Freien Secession
1916 - Wiesbaden (Germany) - Nassauischer Kunstverein
1917 - Berlin (Germany) - 3. Ausstellung der Freien Secession
1917 - Berlin (Germany) - Moderne Gemälde, at Galerie Paul Cassirer
1919 - Bern (Switzerland) - Group show, at Kunsthalle
1919 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - 1. Ausstellung Expressionisten - Wiedereröffnung, at Galerie Flechtheim
1919 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Auf dem Weg zur Kunst unserer Zeit, at Galerie Flechtheim
1919 - Mannheim (Germany) - Group show, at Kunsthalle
1919 - Munich (Germany) - 5. Gesamtausstellung, Herbst-Ausstellung, at Galerie Neue Kunst - Hans Goltz
1919 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, at Kunsthaus
1920 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, at Kunsthaus
1921 - Berlin (Germany) - Freie Secession, Frühjahrausstellung
1921 - Berlin (Germany) - Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung
1921 - Hamburg (Germany) - 16. Ausstellung des Deutschen Künstlerbundes Hamburg
1922 - Berlin (Germany) - Das Schwedische Ballet, at Galerie Flechtheim
1922 - Darmstadt (Germany) - Deutsche Kunst, at Mathildenhöhe
1922 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Internationale Kunstausstellung, at Hause Leonhard Tietz
1923 - Bremen (Germany) - Bremer Kunsthalle
1923 - Darmstadt (Germany) - Deutsche Kunst, at Mathildenhöhe
1923 - Dresden (Germany) - Kunst der Gegenwart, Jubiläumausstellung, at Galerie Arnold
1923 - Munich (Germany) - 9. Ausstellung der Neue Secession, at Glaspalast
1924 - Munich (Germany) - 10. Ausstellung der Neue Secession
1924 - Stuttgart (Germany) - Ausstellung Neuer Deutscher Kunst, at Kunstgebäude
1925 - Berlin (Germany) - Group show, at Galerie Flechtheim
1925 - Berlin (Germany) - Preussische Akademie der Künste - Frühjahrausstellung
1925 - Berlin (Germany) - Preussische Akademie der Künste - Herbstausstellung
1925 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Grosse Kunstausstellung. Jubiläumausstellung
1925 - Munich (Germany) - 11. Ausstellung der Neue Secession, at Glaspalast
1925 - Wiesbaden (Germany) - Nassauischer Kunstverein
1925 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Internationale Kunstausstellung, at Kunsthaus Zürich
1926 - Berlin (Germany) - Ausstellung der 51. Berliner Secession - Herbstausstellung
1926 - Berlin (Germany) - Ausstellung von Gemälden jüngeren Künstler aus Deutschland, England, Frankreich und den Vereinigten Staaten, at Nationalgalerie
1926 - Berlin (Germany) - Berliner Bühnenbildner
1926 - Berlin (Germany) - Preussische Akademie der Künste, Frühjahrausstellung
1926 - Dresden (Germany) - Internationale Kunstausstellung
1926 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - GeSoLei, Kunst und Leibesübungen - Grosse Ausstellung für Gesundheitspflege, soziale Fürsorge und Leibesübungen
1926 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Heinrich Nauen: Neue Stilleben; and Ernesto de Fiori: Portraitbüsten, at Galerie Flechtheim
1926 - Milan (Italy) - Mostra d'Arte del Novecento Italiano, at Palazzo della Permanente
1927 - Berlin (Germany) - 52. Berliner Secession - Frühjahrausstellung
1927 - Berlin (Germany) - Das Problem der Generation. 1. Teil: Die Deutschen, at Galerie Flechtheim
1927 - Berlin (Germany) - Die Bildgiesserei Noack. Zum dreißigjährigen Bestehen der Bronzegiesserei Noack in Berlin, at Friedenau
1927 - Berlin (Germany) - Eröffnungsausstellung unseres neuen Berliner Hauses, at Galerie Thannhauser
1927 - Berlin (Germany) - Preussische Akademie der Künste - Frühjahrausstellung
1927 - Berlin (Germany) - Preussische Akademie der Künste - Herbstausstellung
1927 - Berlin (Germany) - Karl Hofer: Neue Bilder; Porträts und Kleinplastik von Ernesto de Fiori, at Galerie Flechtheim
1927 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Karl Hofer: Neue Bilder; Porträts und Kleinplastik von Ernesto de Fiori, at Galerie Flechtheim
1927 - Dresden (Germany) - Deutscher Künstlerbund
1927 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Impressionisten Zeitgenössische Malerei. Exotische Skulpturen
1927 - Geneva (Switzerland) - Exposition d'Artistes Italiens Contemporains, at Musée Rath
1927 - Hamburg (Germany) - Europäische Kunst der Gegenwart
1927 - Kassel (Germany) - 150 Jahre Kasseler Kunstakademie - Jubiläumsausstellung, at Schloss Orangerie
1927 - New York (United States) - Deutsche Kunst in Amerika
1928 - Amsterdam (Netherlands) - 9. Olympiade Amsterdam. Concours et de L'Exposition D'Art Olympique, at Musée Municipale d'Amsterdam
1928 - Berlin (Germany) - Berliner Secession. "Die Berliner Secession im neuen Hause Tiergartenstrasse 21". Frühjahrausstellung
1928 - Berlin (Germany) - Zweite Ausstellung Deutscher Nach-Impressionistischer Kunst aus Berliner Privatbesitz, at Kronprinzenpalais
1928 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Group show, at Galerie Flechtheim
1928 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Deutsche Kunst
1928 - Frankfurt (Germany) - Künstler-Selbstbildnisse unserer Zeit, at Kunstverein
1928 - Hannover (Germany) - 96. Grosse Kunstausstellung des Kunstvereins Hannover des Deutschen Künstlerbundes, at Künstlerhaus
1928 - Magdeburg (Germany) - Werke neuzeitlicher Plastik, at Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum
1929 - Berlin (Germany) - Ausstellung der Berliner Secession. Frühjahrausstellung
1929 - Berlin (Germany) - Ausstellung der Berliner Secession. Herbstausstellung
1929 - Berlin (Germany) - Preussische Akademie der Künste. Frühjahrausstellung
1929 - Cologne (Germany) - Deutscher Künstlerbund
1929 - Darmstadt (Germany) - Der Schöne Mensch in der neuen Kunst. Internationale Ausstellung, at Mathildenhöhe
1929 - Duisburg (Germany) - 60. Ausstellung deutscher Kunst der letzten 5 Jahre. Duisburger Museumvereins
1929 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Kleinplastik, at Galerie Flechtheim
1929 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Lebende deutsche Kunst. Aus rheinischen Privatbesitz, at Galerie Flechtheim
1929 - Kassel (Germany) - Vierte Grosse Ausstellung. Neue Kunst in der Orangerie
1929 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Graphik Ausstellung, at Kunsthaus
1930 - Berlin (Germany) - Ausstellung der Berliner Secession. Werke lebender Bildhauer
1930 - Berlin (Germany) - Der Sport als Kulturfaktor, at Künstlerhaus Berlin
1930 - Berlin (Germany) - Preussische Akademie der Künste. Frühjahrausstellung
1930 - Hannover (Germany) - Grosse Kunstausstellung
1930 - Munich (Germany) - Deutsche Kunst Ausstellung, at Glaspalast
1930 - Stuttgart (Germany) - Deutscher Künstlerbund
1931 - Belgrade (Yugoslavia - now Serbia) - Deutsche zeitgenössische bildende Kunst und Architektur (veranstaltet von der Deutschen Kunstgesellschaft e. V. Berlin)
1931 - Berlin (Germany) - Ausstellung der 64. Berliner Secession. Künstler unter sich
1931 - Berlin (Germany) - Ausstellung der 66. Berliner Secession
1931 - Berlin (Germany) - Deutsche Bauausstellung, at Messehallen am Funkturm
1931 - Berlin (Germany) - Preussische Akademie der Künste. Frühjahrausstellung
1931 - Essen (Germany) - Deutsche Künstlerbund Ausstellung
1931 - New York (United States) - German Painting and Sculpture, at MoMA
1931 - Vienna (Austria) - Europäische Plastik im Hagenbund
1931 - Zagreb (Yugoslavia - now Croatia) - Deutsche zeitgenössische bildende Kunst und Architektur (veranstaltet von der Deutschen Kunstgesellschaft e. V. Berlin)
1931 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Internationale Ausstellung: Plastik, at Kunsthaus Zürich
1932 - Bergen (Norway) - Nyere tysk kunst. Maleri og Skulptur. "Neuere deutsche Kunst-Malerei und Skulptur", zusammengestellt von Ludwig Tormaehlen (organized by L. Tormaehlen)
1932 - Berlin (Germany) - 111 Porträts Zeitgenössischer Bildhauer, at Galerie Flechtheim
1932 - Berlin (Germany) - Ausstellung der Berliner Secession. Frühjahrausstellung
1932 - Berlin (Germany) - Ausstellung der Berliner Secession. Herbstausstellung
1932 - Berlin (Germany) - Lebendige Deutsche Kunst: Ausstellung in drei Abteilungen - 1. Ausstellung, at Galerie Paul Cassirer
1932 - Cologne (Germany) - Nyere tysk kunst. Maleri og Skulptur. "Neuere deutsche Kunst-Malerei und Skulptur", zusammengestellt von Ludwig Tormaehlen (organized by L. Tormaehlen)
1932 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Vereinigung für Junge Kunst. Kunst der Gegenwart aus Düsseldorfer Privatbesitz
1932 - Göteborg (Sweden) - Nyere tysk kunst. Maleri og Skulptur. "Neuere deutsche Kunst-Malerei und Skulptur", zusammengestellt von Ludwig Tormaehlen (organized by L. Tormaehlen)
1932 - Copenhagen (Denmark) - Nyere tysk kunst. Maleri og Skulptur. "Neuere deutsche Kunst-Malerei und Skulptur", zusammengestellt von Ludwig Tormaehlen (organized by L. Tormaehlen)
1932 - Oslo (Norway) - Nyere tysk kunst. Maleri og Skulptur. "Neuere deutsche Kunst-Malerei und Skulptur", zusammengestellt von Ludwig Tormaehlen (organized by L. Tormaehlen)
1932 - Stavanger (Norway) - Nyere tysk kunst. Maleri og Skulptur. "Neuere deutsche Kunst-Malerei und Skulptur", zusammengestellt von Ludwig Tormaehlen (organized by L. Tormaehlen)
1933 - Berlin (Germany) - Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung, at Schloss Bellevue
1933 - Berlin (Germany) - Preussische Akademie der Künste. Frühjahrausstellung
1933 - Bremen (Germany) - Bildhauerzeichnungen, at Kunsthalle Bremen
1933 - Chicago (United States) - Exhibition of Paintings and Sculptures, at The Art Institute
1933 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - 30 deutsche Bildhauer, at Galerie Vömel
1933 - Magdeburg (Germany) - Deutsche Künstlerbund: aquarele, zeichnung, bildhauerwerke
1934 - Berlin (Germany) - Das Bildnis in der Plastik: Deutsche Kunst seit Dürer, at Staatliche Museum - Nationalgalerie
1934 - Berlin (Germany) - Sechs Jahrtausende Kupferkunst: Ausstellung der Staatlichen Museen und der Preussischen Akademie der Künste
1934 - Berlin (Germany) - Zeichnungen Deutscher Bildhauer der Gegenwart, at Livraria Karl Buchholz
1935 - Berlin (Germany) - Berliner Secession "Zusammenschluss 1934" - Erste Ausstellung nach der Neugründung
1935 - Berlin (Germany) - Geist der Antike in der neueren Kunst, at Galerie Buchholz
1935 - Dessau (Germany) - Bildhauerzeichnungen, at Anhaltischer Kunstverein
1935 - Dresden (Germany) - Deutsche Bildhauer, at Galerie Kuehl
1936 - Berlin (Germany) - Deutsche Kunst im Olympiajahr: malerei und plastik, at Neue Berliner Kunstverein
1936 - Berlin (Germany) - Neuere Deutsche Plastik, at Galerie Buchholz
1936 - Berlin (Germany) - Olympische Kunstausstellung, at Ausstellungsgebäude am Kaiserdamm
1936 - Hamburg (Germany) - Form Probleme in neuer Zeit, at Kunstverein
1937 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Ernesto de Fiori and Etchings by Zangerl, at Nova Galeria de Arte - organizada por Theodor Heuberger
1937 - São Paulo SP - 1st Salon of the Família Artística Paulista, at Esplanada Hotel de São Paulo
1937 - São Paulo SP - 1st Salão de Maio, at Esplanada Hotel de São Paulo
1938 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - Bildhauer der Gegenwart, at Galerie Vömel
1938 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Estado Novo Exhibition
1938 - São Paulo SP - 2nd Salão de Maio, at Esplanada Hotel de São Paulo
1939 - São Paulo SP - 2nd Salon of the Família Artística Paulista, at Automóvel Clube
1939 - São Paulo SP - 3rd Salão de Maio, at Galeria Itá
1940 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 3rd Salon of the Família Artística Paulista, at Palace Hotel
1941 - São Paulo SP - 1st Art Salon of the National Industries Fair, at Parque da Água Branca
1942 - São Paulo SP - 7th Salon of the Visual Artists' Union, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1943 - São Paulo SP - Group show, organized by Henrique Liberal, at Alameda Casa Branca, 1.179
1944 - Rome (Italy) - Mostra di 25 Artisti del Secolo, at Galleria del Secolo
1944 - São Paulo SP - 9th Salon of the Visual Artists' Union, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1944 - São Paulo SP - Exhibition of Brazilian-American Modern Painting, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1945 - São Paulo SP - Galeria Domus: Inaugural Exhibition, at Galeria Domus

Posthumous Exhibitions

1945 - São Paulo SP - Solo - exhibition and lecture series organized by IAB
1946 - São Paulo SP - 10th Salon of the Visual Artists' Union, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1946 - São Paulo SP - 12th São Paulo Fine Arts Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1947 - Lucerne (Switzerland) - Vierzig Jahre Italienischer Kunst - Die Erneuerungsbewegungen von Futurismus bis Heute, at Kunstmuseum
1948 - Germany - Tekessel - exhibition organized by Ilse Scherpe
1948 - São Paulo SP - Group show, at Masp
1950 - Venice (Italy) - 25th Venice Biennale
1951 - Vienna (Austria) - Secession 1951
1952 - Braunschweig (Germany) - Ernesto de Fiori: Watercolors, at Kunstverein Studioraum
1954 - São Paulo SP - Contemporary Art: Exhibition of the Collection of the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, at MAM/SP
1954 - São Paulo SP - Ernesto de Fiori - Posthumous Tribute, at Masp
1955 - Kassel (Germany) - 1st Documenta, at Museum Fridericianum
1956 - São Paulo SP - 50 Years of Brazilian Landscape, at MAM/SP
1957 - Darmstadt (Germany) - Kunstwerk aus Darmstädter Privatbesitz, at Darmstadt Kunsthalle
1957 - Messina (Italy) - Mostra all'aperto della Scultura Italiana del XX Secolo, at Villa Mazzini
1957 - Rome (Italy) - Sculture Italiane 1911-1957, at Galleria La Bussola
1959 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at MAM/SP
1961 - São Paulo SP - De Fiori: Sculptures and Drawings, at Galeria São Luís
1962 - Munich (Germany) - Berliner Bildnisse aus drei Jahrhunderten, at Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus
1963 - Araraquara SP - 1st Traveling Exhibition of Works from the MAC/USP Collection
1963 - Campinas SP - 1st Traveling Exhibition of Works from the MAC/USP Collection
1963 - Campinas SP - Contemporary Painting and Sculpture, at Museu Carlos Gomes
1963 - Marília SP - 1st Traveling Exhibition of Works from the MAC/USP Collection
1963 - Ribeirão Preto SP - 1st Traveling Exhibition of Works from the MAC/USP Collection
1966 - Belo Horizonte MG - 2nd Traveling Exhibition of Works from the MAC/USP Collection, at Museu de Arte da Prefeitura Municipal
1966 - Curitiba PR - 2nd Traveling Exhibition of Works from the MAC/USP Collection, at Departamento de Cultura da Secretaria de Educação e Cultura do Estado do Paraná
1966 - Porto Alegre RS - 2nd Traveling Exhibition of Works from the MAC/USP Collection, at Margs
1966 - São Paulo SP - 2nd Traveling Exhibition of Works from the MAC/USP Collection, at Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia da USP
1966 - São Paulo SP - Half a Century of New Art, at MAC/USP
1967 - São Paulo SP - Ernesto de Fiori Exhibition, at Galeria Mirante das Artes
1970 - São Paulo SP - Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo: 1970, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1972 - São Paulo SP - The Week of '22: Antecedents and Consequences, at Masp
1974 - São Paulo SP - Ernesto de Fiori Retrospective: Sculptures, Oils, Gouaches, at Galeria Cosme Velho
1975 - São Paulo SP - 7th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1975 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at MAC/USP
1976 - Bonn (Germany) - Die Zwanziger Jahre im Porträt: Porträts in Deutschland 1918-1933, at Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
1976 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Art in the 20th Century: Paths and Trends, at Galeria Arte Global
1976 - São Paulo SP - The Salons: Família Artística Paulista, Salão de Maio and the São Paulo Visual Artists' Union, at Museu Lasar Segall
1977 - São Paulo SP - Highlight of the Month, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1978 - São Paulo SP - Landscape in the Pinacoteca Collection, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1979 - Munich (Germany) - Die Zwanziger Jahre in München, at Münchner Stadt Museum
1980 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Ochenta Años de Arte Brasileño, at Banco Itaú
1980 - São Paulo SP - The Brazilian Landscape: 1650-1976, at Paço das Artes
1980 - São Paulo SP - Pinacoteca at Sesc, at Galeria Sesc Carmo
1981 - Curitiba PR - Pinacoteca in Curitiba, at Solar do Rosário
1982 - Bauru SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art
1982 - Marília SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art
1982 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Between the Stain and the Figure, at MAM/RJ
1982 - São Paulo SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at MAB/Faap
1982 - São Paulo SP - From Modernism to the Bienal, at MAM/SP
1982 - São Paulo SP - Seascapes and Riverscapes, at Museu Lasar Segall
1982 - São Paulo SP - Italian Painters in Brazil, at MAM/SP
1982 - São Paulo SP - A Century of Sculpture in Brazil, at Masp
1983 - Belo Horizonte MG - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at Fundação Clóvis Salgado. Palácio das Artes
1983 - Berlin (Germany) - Deutsche Bildhauer 1900-1945 Entartet
1983 - Campinas SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at MACC
1983 - Curitiba PR - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at MAC/PR
1983 - Ribeirão Preto SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art
1983 - Santo André SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at Prefeitura Municipal
1984 - São Paulo SP - Tradition and Rupture: A Synthesis of Brazilian Art and Culture, at Fundação Bienal
1985 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Six Decades of Modern Art: Roberto Marinho Collection, at Paço Imperial
1985 - São Paulo SP - 100 Itaú Works, at Masp
1985 - São Paulo SP - 18th Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, at Fundação Bienal
1985 - São Paulo SP - The City's Sculptors: Tribute to São Paulo's Anniversary, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1986 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Seven Decades of Italian Presence in Brazilian Art, at Paço Imperial
1987 - São Paulo SP - Brazil Painted by National and Foreign Masters: 18th - 20th Centuries, at Masp
1987 - São Paulo SP - The Craft of Art: Painting, at Sesc
1988 - São Paulo SP - Brasiliana: Man and the Land, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1988 - São Paulo SP - From Academicism to Abstraction, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1988 - São Paulo SP - MAC 25 Years: Highlights of the Initial Collection, at MAC/USP
1989 - Lisbon (Portugal) - Six Decades of Brazilian Modern Art: Roberto Marinho Collection, at Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. Centro de Arte Moderna José de Azeredo Perdigão
1989 - São Paulo SP - 20th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1989 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Painting 20th Century: Works from the Banco Itaú Collection, at Itaugaleria
1990 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Landscapes, at Masp
1991 - São Paulo SP - São Paulo Images, at Paço das Artes
1991 - Wiesbaden (Germany) - Schwerpunkt Malerei, 1860-1937, at Museum Wiesbaden
1992 - Berlin (Germany) - Ernesto de Fiori 1884-1936: Retrospective of European Sculptures, at Georg-Kolbe Museum
1992 - Münster (Germany) - Deutsche Bildhauer 1900-1945 Entartet
1992 - Poços de Caldas MG - Brazilian Modern Art: Collection of the Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo, at Casa da Cultura
1992 - São Paulo SP - The Seduction of Volumes: The Three-Dimensional Works of the MAC, at MAC/USP
1992 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Masp
1992 - São Paulo SP - Modernism: The 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1992 - São Paulo SP - Sérgio's View of Brazilian Art: Drawings and Paintings, at Biblioteca Municipal Mário de Andrade
1993 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazil, 100 Years of Art, at MNBA
1993 - São Paulo SP - The Italian Gaze on São Paulo, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1993 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Art from the Academy to the Contemporary, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1993 - São Paulo SP - Those Who Stayed Were Brazilians, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1994 - Poços de Caldas MG - Unibanco Collection: Exhibition Celebrating Unibanco's 70th Anniversary, at Casa da Cultura
1994 - São Paulo SP - Bienal Brasil Século XX, at Fundação Bienal
1994 - São Paulo SP - Poetics of Resistance: Aspects of Brazilian Printmaking, at Galeria de Arte do Sesi
1995 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Unibanco Collection: Exhibition Celebrating Unibanco's 70th Anniversary, at MAM/RJ
1995 - São Paulo SP - Expressions of the Body in the Sculpture of Rodin, Leopoldo e Silva, De Fiori, Brecheret, Bruno Giorgi, at Espaço Cultural Safra
1995 - São Paulo SP - The Santa Helena Group, at MAM/SP
1996 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - The Santa Helena Group, at CCBB
1996 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Art: 50 Years of History in the MAC/USP Collection: 1920-1970, at MAC/USP
1996 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Skultura Galeria de Arte
1997 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Sculpture: Profile of an Identity, at Banco Safra
1997 - São Paulo SP - Masters of Expressionism in Brazil, at Masp
1997 - São Paulo SP - The Revealing Touch: Portraits and Self-Portraits, at MAC/USP
1997 - São Paulo SP - Retrospective organized by the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, at Parque Ibirapuera
1997 - São Paulo SP - Three-Dimensionality in 20th-Century Brazilian Art, at Itaú Cultural
1997 - Washington (United States) - Brazilian Sculpture: Profile of an Identity, at Centro Cultural do BID
1998 - Belo Horizonte MG - Three-Dimensionality in 20th-Century Brazilian Art, at Itaú Cultural
1998 - Brasília DF - Three-Dimensionality in 20th-Century Brazilian Art, at Galeria Itaú Cultural
1998 - Penápolis SP - Three-Dimensionality in 20th-Century Brazilian Art, at Galeria Itaú Cultural
1998 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Art in the Collection of the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, at CCBB
1998 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Negotiated Images: Portraits of the Brazilian Elite, at CCBB
1998 - Santos SP - Expressions of the Body in the Sculpture of Rodin, Leopoldo e Silva, De Fiori, Brecheret, Bruno Giorgi, at Sesc
1998 - São Paulo SP - The Collector, at MAM/SP
1998 - São Paulo SP - The Modern and the Contemporary in Brazilian Art: Gilberto Chateaubriand Collection - MAM/RJ, at Masp
1999 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Art, 20th Century: Dialogues with Dufy, at MAM/SP
1999 - São Paulo SP - Italians and Brazilians in Interwar Art, at Pinacoteca do Estado
2000 - Lisbon (Portugal) - 20th Century: Art of Brazil, at Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. Centro de Arte Moderna José de Azeredo Perdigão
2000 - São Paulo SP - The Human Figure in the Itaú Collection, at Itaú Cultural
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brasil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition, at Fundação Bienal
2000 - São Paulo SP - A Certain Point of View: Pietro Maria Bardi 100 Years, at Pinacoteca do Estado
2001 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Watercolor, at Centro Cultural Light
2001 - São Paulo SP - 30 Masters of Painting in Brazil, at Masp
2001 - São Paulo SP - Museu de Arte Brasileira: 40 Years, at MAB/Faap
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Art in the Fadel Collection: From the Restlessness of the Modern to the Autonomy of Language, at CCBB
2002 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Art in the Fadel Collection: From the Restlessness of the Modern to the Autonomy of Language, at CCBB
2002 - São Paulo SP - Wild Mirror: Modern Art in Brazil in the First Half of the 20th Century, Nemirovsky Collection, at MAM/SP
2002 - São Paulo SP - Modernism: From the Week of '22 to Sérgio Milliet's Art Section, at CCSP
2003 - Brasília DF - Brazilian Art in the Fadel Collection: From the Restlessness of the Modern to the Autonomy of Language, at CCBB
2003 - São Paulo SP - Sculptors - Sculptures, at Pinakotheke
2003 - São Paulo SP - One Single Heart, at MAM/SP
2004 - São Paulo SP - Paper Cabinet, at CCSP

Source: Itaú Cultural