José Maria de Medeiros (Ilha do Faial, Azores 1849 - Rio de Janeiro RJ 1925)
Painter, designer and teacher.
Arrives in Brazil around 1865 and joined the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios in Rio de Janeiro. In 1868, he joined the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts (Aiba), where he is a student of Victor Meirelles (1832-1903) and Antônio de Souza Lobo (1840-1909), among others. Its colleagues Almeida Júnior (1850-1899), Firmino Monteiro (1855-1888), Estevão Silva (ca.1844-1891), Henrique Bernardelli (1858-1936), Pedro Peres (1850-1923) and Augusto Rodrigues Duarte (1848-1888). He receives the silver medal at the General Exhibition of Fine Arts of 1871 and the great gold medal in the 1876 Exhibition, with the painting Portrait de Senhora. In 1878, he became a teacher of figurative drawing at AIBA, by contest. From 1882, when he became a Brazilian, he became a full professor. In the 1884 contest, he exhibits the death of Socrates and Iracema, for which he is awarded the title of officer of the Order of the Rose. Its disciples Eliseu Visconti (1866-1944), Baptista da Costa (1865-1926), Belmiro de Almeida (1858-1935) and Oscar Pereira da Silva (1867-1939), among others. In 1891, he left Aiba and began to exercise teaching in public secondary education and, in 1897, at the João Alfredo Professional Institute. He makes two individual, in 1897 and 1899, at Galeria Rezende, Rio de Janeiro. In 1948, his work is included in the retrospective of painting in Brazil, at the National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA), Rio de Janeiro.
Critical Comment
José Maria de Medeiros Brazil, by the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts (Aiba). After moving to Rio de Janeiro, he never leaves the country: he does not undertake the famous trip to Europe, unlike most painters of the time, including his professor Victor Meirelles (1832-1903). Therefore, it is representative of the results of our academic teaching and of how neoclassicism here acquires romantic contours.
Two paintings presented at the 1884 exhibition, both today at the National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA), are emblematic of this trajectory that goes from neoclassicism to romanticism. The death of Socrates is a neoclassical theme par excellence, of praise for the ancient virtues. In the composition, the painter follows academic precepts in the representation of passions: a figure on the left is on his back and hides his face so as not to see the death of the philosopher, on the right, another folds his body and hides his face between his hands, another crosses his arms, demonstrating a mixture of worry and sadness. At the center, enlightened, the wise man talks, with restrained gestures, showing serenity.
iracema, on the contrary, is explicitly romantic, starting with the theme. The heroine of the novel by José de Alencar is standing on the left side of the composition, next to the arrow stuck in the sand, passing a guaiamum and a branch of passion fruit, which divides the canvas in two. On the left, a nearby beach with forest edges. On the right, a distant beach, the sea and the horizon line. The design and composition are better finished here. The colors are lighter and more exuberant, to correspond to our nature and the romantic passions that the theme requires. The painting resulted in a distinction from the painter, but was criticized by some contemporary commentators, such as Gonzaga-Duque.
José Maria de Medeiros cultivates the historical genre, portraits and genre paintings. However, even those who admire him, such as Laudelino Freire and Quirino Campofiorito (1902-1993), consider him not a great painter, but a "modest, timid, honest and worthy" artist.
Notes
1 Campofiorito, Quirino. History of Brazilian painting in the 19th century: the protection of the emperor and painters in the Second Reign 1850 - 1890, vol. 4. Rio de Janeiro: Pinakotheke, 1983, p. 25;
2 ZANINI, Walter (coord.). General History of Art in Brazil. V - I. São Paulo: Instituto Moreira Salles: Fundação Djalma Guimarães, 1983, p. 420 et seq.
3 Zanini, Op. cit., p. 403, on the classes on Anatomy and Physiology of Passions.
4 Gonzaga-Duque, Brazilian art. Introduction and Notes Tadeu Chiarelli. Campinas: Mercado de Letras, 1995, p. 205.
5 Campofiorito, Quirino, Op. cit., p. 24-25.
6 FREIRE, Laudelino. A century of painting: 1816 - 1916. Rio de Janeiro: Fontana, 1983, p. 151.
Criticism
"Guild on a larger scale, the painting of portraits and the history; and is considered by the criticism of his time as a modest, shy, honest and Deserving: It stands out among its qualities to be a colorist endowed with a lot of delicacy, next to the firmness of its design."
Laudelino Freire
FREIRE, Laudelino. A century of painting: notes for the history of painting in Brazil: from 1816-1916. Rio de Janeiro: Fontana, 1983.
Acerves
Museum of the Dom João VI School of Fine Arts - Rio de Janeiro RJ
National Museum of Fine Arts - MNBA - Rio de Janeiro RJ
Individual exhibitions
1897 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Galeria Rezende
1899 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Galeria Rezende
Exhibitions collective
1871 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Show, at AIBA - Silver Medal
1875 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 23rd General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at AIBA
1876 - Rio de Janeiro Janeiro RJ - 24th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at AIBA - 1st Gold Medal
1878 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Show, at the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios
1879 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 25th Exhibition General of Fine Arts, at AIBA
1884 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 26th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at AIBA
1890 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba
1924 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 31st General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at ENBA
Posthumous exhibitions
1925 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 32nd General Exhibition of Fine Arts ENBA
1948 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Retrospective exhibition of painting in Brazil, organized by the MNBA
1981 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Carnival universe: images and reflections, at the Art Gallery Collection
1986 - São Paulo SP - nineteenth century: a turn in the century, at the state's Pinacoteca
1994 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Landscape iconography
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazil rediscovered, in Paço Imperial
2002 - São Paulo SP - Image and identity: a look at history in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, at the Banco Santos Cultural Institute
Source: Itaú Cultural
