João Ghelfi (Curitiba PR 1890 - idem 1925)
Painter.
From 1907 to 1911, he studies with Alfredo Andersen (1860 - 1935) in Curitiba. Between 1913 and 1914, he travels to Paris, where he attends studio-schools and perfects his painting. In 1921 he sets up a stall that becomes a meeting point for young intellectuals, painters and journalists who debate modern art. He specializes in portraits and, alongside Lange de Morretes (1892 - 1954) and João Turin (1880 - 1949), champions a Paranista style.
Critiques
"In the various watercolors and pastels Mr. João Ghelfi is exhibiting, one discovers a smiling soul and a complex talent, whose progress is visible almost from one work to the next. I recall two or three of his landscapes in particular, vibrant, delicate and fine, which made an excellent impression on me. He seems to be a young man with a great future, if he has perseverance and a good measure of ambition. An oil by Mr. João Ghelfi, also taken from the Passeio Público in Curitiba, a study of light whose subject is a certain small farm on the outskirts of the capital - these and other works speak to us of very real vigor and brilliance, giving us legitimate and high hopes for the young author who produced them."
Nestor Vítor
LEITE, José Roberto Teixeira. Dicionário crítico da pintura no Brasil. Rio de Janeiro: Artlivre, 1988.
Group Exhibitions
1914 - Curitiba PR - Exhibition, at Escola de Artes e Indústrias de Curitiba
1964 - Curitiba PR - Pioneers of Painting in Paraná
Posthumous Exhibitions
1975 - Curitiba PR - Panorama of the Arts in Paraná: From the Precursors to the Andersen School, at Sala de Exposições do Badep
1986 - Curitiba PR - Tradition/Contradiction, at MAC/PR
2004 - Curitiba PR - The Paraná Landscape and Its Painters, at Casa Andrade Muricy
Source: Itaú Cultural
