Octávio Araújo (Terra Roxa SP 1926 - SP 2015)
Octávio Araújo was a recorder, painter, draftsman, illustrator and graphic artist. He studied painting at the Escola Profissional Men's do Brás, in São Paulo, between 1939 and 1943, under the guidance of Edmundo Migliaccio and José Barchitta. In 1947, he joined the group of 19. Two years later, he traveled to Paris, where he studied engraving at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts [Escola Nacional Superior de Belas Artes] and attended the of prints from the Musée du Louvre [Louvre Museum]. He returned to Brazil in 1951 and, the following year, moved to Rio de Janeiro. Indicating by Clóvis Graciano (1907-1988), he started to work as an assistant to Candido Portinari (1903-1962). With the Salão para Todos engraving award, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1959, he traveled to China. In 1960, he received a scholarship from the Répin Institute in Leningrad (currently St. Petersburg), sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of the Soviet Union (now Russia). Moscow. Staying in the city for eight years, he worked as an illustrator for Latin American books, translator and documentary voice actor. In 1972, the Octávio Araújo show was held: 20 years later, at the São Paulo Museum of Art of Assis Chateaubriand (MASP). In 1979, the book Octávio Ferreira de Araújo: 10 Years of Painting, by José Roberto Teixeira Leite, was published. Flemish, German and Italian from the 15th and 16th centuries, sometimes being directly inspired by figures taken from these works.
Some scholars perceive, in the artist's works, affinity with surrealism, mainly for the presentation of a dreamlike atmosphere. According to him, his work aims to awaken an original atmosphere of mystery and magic in the spectator. In this sense, the figure of the woman is associated with the elements of nature. Araújo mixes, in the same composition, very different images, such as those of animals, objects, stairs or ruins, creating unexpected scenes with them.
Criticism
"He disappeared from the São Paulo area, without news of him. Returned: Itinerou in Asia and Europe (...) The novelty that took us when back was his surrealist theme, it may be in reaction to realism, to which his pyrotechnic fantasy of African descent has barely adapted for a long time. Paths of Inconscio is guided by the love of the woman, idealized in a variety of moments that range from the delicious contemplations of the classic nude, to the Ingresian way, to the dreamed in which the incubus and desires of the different throw the companion into disconcerting attitudes secret."
p. M. Bardi
BARDI, Pietro Maria. preface. In: ARAÚJO, Octávio. Octávio Araujo: 20 years later. São Paulo: MASP, 1972. p. 4.
Testimonies
"I started drawing on the current line when I was in Moscow, in 1966. I have always been interested in the figure. I have already been considered expressionist, surrealist, realistic, I know there. I feel more comfortable when I talk about art in general. (...)
The female figure is repeated in my work for several reasons. of nature, in all purity and vigor. She lost this. In my work, the female figure would be the harbinger of the placement of women in her old, normal place. Therefore, sometimes the figure appears fragmented and distorted. As for the objects that surround her, she has a magical meaning that He lost himself. The human being used magic to transform himself, to improve himself. Intuitively I try to awaken in those who see a work of mine This original climate of mystery and magic, which was lost. Hence the drowned, the ruins, the fragmented woman, the ladder, The pearl, the bird, the lightning, the dark cloud."
Octávio Araújo to Eduardo Alves da Costa - 1972
COSTA, Eduardo Alves. Octavio Araújo. In: ARAÚJO, Octávio. Octávio Araujo: 20 years later. São Paulo: MASP, 1972. p. 8-10.
Individual exhibitions
1972 - São Paulo SP - 20 years later, at Masp
1973 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at the Grupo B
1975 - Washington (United States) - Paintings, Drawings and Litographs, at the Brazilian-American Cultural Institute
1976 - Santos SP - Octavio Araújo: engravings, drawings, oil, CCBEU
1979 - São Paulo SP - 10 years later, at the André Art Gallery
1981 - São Paulo SP - The drawing and the feminine, at the André Art Gallery
1982 - São Paulo SP - Octávio Araújo: oils and drawings, at the André Art Gallery
1996 - Santos SP - Octávio Araújo: Paintings, at the Benedito Calixto Foundation
Collective exhibitions
1946 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Quatro Brand new, at IAB/RJ
1947 - São Paulo SP - 19 painters, at the Prestes Maia Gallery
1949 - Paris (France) - Latin American artists, at the Maison de l'Amérique Latine
1951 - Paris (France) - Latin American artists at the Maison de l'Amérique Latine
1953 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 4th Hall of Mortes, at the Municipal Theater of Rio de January
1957 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Hall for All, at the Ministry of Education and Culture - Travel Award to China shared with Roberto de Lamonica
1958 - Bucharest (Romania) - Exhibition of the works of the Salon for All
1958 - Moscow (Soviet Union - Current Russia) - Exhibition of the Works of the Hall for All
1958 - Beijing (China) - Exhibition of the Salon for All
1958 - Shanghai (China) Works from the Salon for All
1968 - São Paulo SP - 19 painters, at the Art Gallery Theme
1971 - São Paulo SP - 3rd Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1972 - São Paulo SP - Fantastic Art, at Paço das Artes
1974 - Madrid (Spain) - Visual Arts Exhibition Room
1974 - São Paulo SP - 6th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1974 - São Paulo. Paulo SP - National Biennial 74, at the Bienal Foundation
ca.1975 - Birmingham (United States) - National Bienal and Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at the Birmingham Museum of Art
1975 - Nashville (United States) - The Art of Brazil, at the Tennessee Fine Arts Center-Checkwood
1975 - São Paulo SP - 13th São Paulo International Biennial, at the Biennial Foundation
1975 - Vienna (Austria) - Collective, at the Albertina Museum
1976 - Florence (Italy) - 5th Biennalle Internazionale d'Arte d'Arte
1976 - New York (United States) - Looking Inside, at The New York Botanical Garden Museum
1976 - Penápolis SP - 2nd Northwest Plastic Arts Hall, at the Penápolis Educational Foundation. Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Penápolis
1976 - São Paulo SP - 8th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1976 - São Paulo SP - The young design of the 40s, at the Pinacoteca do State
1977 - Lagos (Nigeria) - 2nd World Festival of Black and African Art and Culture
1977 - São Paulo SP - The groups: The 40's, at the Lasar Segall Museum
1978 - Penápolis SP - 3rd Northwest Plastic Arts Hall, at the Educational Foundation of Penápolis. Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Penápolis
1978 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 18th Exhibition Art and Ecological Thought, at the Euclides da Cunha Library
1978 - São Paulo SP - 19 painters, MAM/SP
1979 - São Paulo SP - Collective, at the André Art Gallery
1980 - Penápolis SP - 4th Northwest Visual Arts Salon, at the Penápolis Educational Foundation. Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Penápolis
1982 - Penápolis SP - 5th Northwest Plastic Arts Hall, at the Penápolis Educational Foundation. Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Penápolis
1982 - São Paulo SP - From Modernism to Bienal, at MAM/SP
1983 - Olinda PE - 2nd Exhibition of the Abelardo Rodrigues de Artes Collection Plasticas, at MAC/Olinda
1984 - São Paulo SP - Tradition and Rupture: Synthesis of Brazilian Art and Culture, at Fundação Bienal
1985 - Penápolis SP - 6th Salon of Plastic Arts of the Northwest, at Fundação Educacional de Penapolis. Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Penápolis
1985 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 8th National Salon of Plastic Arts, at MAM/RJ
1985 - São Paulo SP - The Art of the Imaginary, at the Encontro das Artes Galeria
1985 - São Paulo SP - Highlights of Brazilian Contemporary Art, at MAM/SP
1987 - São Paulo SP - 20th Exhibition of Contemporary Art, at Chapel Art Show
1987 - São Paulo SP - The craft of art: painting, Sesc
1988 - São Paulo SP - The Afro-Brazilian Hand, at MAM/SP
1988 - São Paulo SP - Brasiliana: O Homem e a Terra, at the Pinacoteca do Estado
1989 - Los Angeles (United States) - Introspectives: Contemporary Art by Americans and Brazilians of African Descent, at The California Afro-American Museum
1990 - New York (United States) - Introspectives: Contemporary Art by Americans and Brazilians of African Descent, at The Bronx Museum of the Arts
1990 - São Paulo SP - 21st Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1991 - São Paulo SP - Graphic Record: Original lithographs, at the Kramer Art Gallery
1992 - Santo André SP - Lithogravure: Methods and Concepts, at the Municipal Palace
1992 - São Paulo SP - Sérgio's look at Brazilian art: drawings and Paintings, at the Mário de Andrade Municipal Library
1992 - São Paulo SP - Polarities/Perspectivas, at the Paço das Artes
1993 - João Pessoa PB - woodcut: from cordel to the gallery, at the Espaço Cultural da Paraíba
1993 - São Paulo SP - 100 Works - Primas from the Mário de Andrade Collection: Painting and Sculpture, at IEB/USP
1994 - São Paulo SP - Xylograph: From Cordel to Galeria, in the Metro
1997 - Salvador BA - A toast to the café, at Espaço Cafelier
1998 - São Paulo SP - Os Collectors - Guita and José Mindlin: matrices and prints, at the SESI Art Gallery
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Rio Engraving Show. Brazilian modern engraving: collection National Museum of Fine Arts, at MNBA
1999 - São Paulo SP - The female figure in the MAB collection, at MAB/FAAP
1999 - São Paulo SP - lithography: fidelity and memory, in the Unicid Arts Space
2000 - São Paulo SP - The female figure in the MAB collection, at MAB/FAAP
2000 - São Paulo SP - Investigations: Brazilian engraving, at Itaú Cultural
2001 - Brasília DF - Investigations. The Brazilian engraving, at Galeria Itaú Cultural
2001 - Penápolis SP - Investigations. Brazilian engraving, at Galeria Itaú Cultural
2001 - São Paulo SP - 4 decades, at Nova André Galeria
2003 - São Paulo SP - Arte & Artists: Exhibition of the nineteen painters, at MASP
2003 - São Paulo SP - Art and Society: a controversial relationship, at Itaú Cultural
2004 - São Paulo SP - New acquisitions: 1995 - 2003, At MAB/FAAP
Source: Itaú Cultural
