Oswaldo Teixeira (Rio de Janeiro RJ 1905 - Idem 1974)
Oswaldo Teixeira was a painter, professor, critic and art historian. He studied at the Lyceum of Arts and Crafts in Rio de Janeiro with Argemiro Cunha and Eurico Moreira Alves, and at the National School of Fine Arts (ENBA) with Rodolfo Chambelland and Baptista da Costa. In 1924, he received the award for travel abroad with the Brazilian Pescador Tela, granted by the 31st General Exhibition of Fine Arts. The following year, he traveled to Europe, visiting Portugal, Spain, France and Italy. He taught drawing at ENBA and at the National Institute of Education between 1932 and 1937. That same year, he took over the position of director of the National Museum of Fine Arts (MNBA), in Rio de Janeiro, where he remained until 1961. He published the book Getúlio Vargas and a Art in Brazil in 1940 and wrote the preface to the work História da Painting in Brazil, by Reis Júnior, in 1944.
He had his work exposed in important exhibitions in the MNBA, such as an exhibition of religious painting (1943), a century of Brazilian painting (1952) and Work in Art (1958). In 1973, he won a retrospective at Galeria Grupo B, in Rio de Janeiro, organized by critic Roberto Pontual. Until the end of his life, he worked as a professor of painting and drawing at several institutions, including the Institute of Fine Arts.
Critical Comment
Oswaldo Teixeira is a controversial figure. He is always at the center of fierce debates, where he is attacked by his artistic and political positions. It defames modernism with vehemence and defends academicism, making it oppose artists such as Quirino Campofiorito and Flávio de Carvalho and critics such as José Roberto Leite Teixeira.
Its anti-modernism is declared. finds modern art hermetic and anarchic art; a mere expedient to hide the technical disability; refuge from those who do not know how to draw and paint and from critics who do not know how to see and write. It only accepts Candido Portinari, the Picasso of the beginning and Paul Cézanne, for his integrity. Even so, some modern artists exhibit at the National Museum of Fine Arts - MNBA and participate in the National Salon of Fine Arts - SNBA during their administration, although the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro - MAM/RJ is much more receptive.
Your opinion Respect for academicism is also explicit. He thinks that academic teaching is the only one who can provide the painter with the technique necessary for his craft. Renaissance is your preferred period. Pictures such as Loura Venus, Brazilian Fisherman and Old Beata are traditionalists in their themes and in their realization. They seek to figure nature, with its reliefs, colors and textures, without realism. For him, good painting is made of technique, emotion and truth. The latter is idealized, as he himself exemplifies: "In the portrait of Judge Martins de Oliveira, for example, I could not be entirely faithful. I painted imposingly, I was not just painting the man. I also needed to portray the magistrate."1 He paints portraits, still lifes, landscapes, religious themes and, above all, female nudes. Its production is abundant - there is talk of 4,000 drawings and 2,000 canvases - and sells well.
Nota
1 SILVA, H. Pereira da. Oswaldo Teixeira in 3rd. Dimension: life, work and epoch. Presentation Oswaldo Teixeira. Rio de Janeiro: Ferreira da Cunha Museum of Arms, 1975, p. 128.
Criticism
"Oswaldo Teixeira so much repeated: 'I am not an academic', who tired. in reality, even later, already 'academic consecration', he would deny this erroneous 'consecration', without foundation in the face of what he painted. He knew he did not observe without adding, omitting and, above all, creating details that did not exist in the models. For example, of his figures, according to Vianna Moog, a connoisseur of European and American museums, 'is unique in the whole world'. and frankness that characterize him: 'He is the greatest skin painter in the world!' (...)".
M. Pereira da Silva
GARIA, Maria Amélia Bulhões. The social meaning of the performance of plastic artists Oswaldo Teixeira and Cândido Portinari during the Estado Novo. Porto Alegre: IFCH/PUC, 1983. (Master's).
"Oswaldo Teixeira, who practiced all genres, has a correct design. well entered the 20th century, a certain type of pictorial sensitivity that refers directly to the 19th century and even to the 18th century, practicing a faisandée and alambicaous painting, which often slipped into the kitsch. works, its invective constants against modern art, and against Portinari and Picasso in particular".
José Roberto Teixeira Leite
LEITE, José Roberto Teixeira. Critical Dictionary of Painting in Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: ArtLivre, 1988.
Individual exhibitions
1971 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Sociarte
1973 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Retrospective, at Galeria Grupo B
Collective exhibitions
1918 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 25th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at ENBA
1919 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 26th Exhibition General of Fine Arts, at ENBA
1921 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 28th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at ENBA - Bronze Medal
1922 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 29th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at ENBA - Great silver medal
1923 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 30th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba
1924 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 31st General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba - Travel abroad Award
1925 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 32nd General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba
1927 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 34th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at ENBA - Gold Medal
1928 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 35th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba
1928 - São Paulo SP - Grupo Almeida Júnior, at Palácio das Arcadas
1929 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 36th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba
1930 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 37th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at ENBA
1930 - New York (United States) - Collective of Brazilian artists, at the Roerich Museum
1933 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 40th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at the School of Fine Arts
1937 - São Paulo SP - 5th São Paulo Salon of Fine Arts - Small Silver Medal
1938 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - National Salon of Fine Arts - Medal Honor
1939 - São Paulo SP - 6th São Paulo Salon of Fine Arts  - Small gold medal
1940 - São Paulo SP - 7th Paulista Salon of Fine Arts, at the Almeida Júnior Art Salon of the Municipality of São Paulo
1942 - São Paulo SP - 8th Paulista Salon of Fine Arts, at the Prestes Maia Gallery
1943 - São Paulo SP - 9th São Paulo Salon of Fine Arts, at the Prestes Maia Gallery
1943 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Painting Religious, at MNBA
1944 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 50th National Salon of Fine Arts, at MNBA
1945 - São Paulo SP - 11th São Paulo Fine Arts Hall, at the Prestes Maia Gallery - Interventor Award Federal
1946 - São Paulo SP - 12th São Paulo Salon of Fine Arts, at the Prestes Maia Gallery - great gold medal and 1st Federal Interventor Award
1947 - São Paulo SP - 13th São Paulo Salon of Fine Arts, at the Prestes Maia
1948 - São Paulo SP - 14th Paulista Salon of Fine Arts, at the Prestes Maia Gallery
1949 - São Paulo SP - 15th São Paulo Fine Arts Hall, at the Prestes Maia Gallery
1950 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - A Century of Brazilian Painting: 1850-1950, at MNBA
1951 - São Paulo SP - 16th São Paulo Fine Arts Hall, at the Prestes Maia Gallery
1952 - São Paulo SP - 17th São Paulo Salon of Fine Arts, in the Trianon Halls (Av. paulista)
1953 - São Paulo SP - 18th Salão Paulista de Belas Artes, at the Prestes Maia Gallery - Acquisition Award
1954 - Goiânia GO - Exhibition of the National Congress of Intellectuals
1954 - São Paulo SP - 19th Salão Paulista de Belas Artes, at the Prestes Maia Gallery
1956 - São Paulo SP - 20th São Paulo Fine Arts Salon - Acquisition Award and 2nd State Government Award
1957 - São Paulo SP - 21st São Paulo Salão de Fine Arts - Medal of Honor
1958 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Salão do Mar
1958 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Work in Art, at MNBA
1959 - São Paulo SP - 24th São Paulo Salon of Fine Arts, at the Prestes Maia Gallery - São Paulo City Hall Award
1962 - São Paulo SP - 27th São Paulo Salon of Fine Arts - Prêmio Acquisition
1963 - São Paulo SP - Salão Paulista of Fine Arts - 2nd State Government Award
1970 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 75th National Salon of Fine Arts, at MNBA
1973 - São Paulo SP - Salão Paulista de Belas Artes - 2nd State Government Award
Source: Itaú Cultural
