Pedro Alexandrino Borges (São Paulo SP 1856 - idem 1942)
Pedro Alexandrino Borges was a painter, decorator, draftsman and teacher. He began his career in painting at the age of 11, working with the French decorator Barandier (ca.1812 - 1867) on the cathedral of Campinas, São Paulo. Around the same time, he assisted the French decorator Stevaux in São Paulo, working on churches, residences and mansions. In 1880, he received his first painting lessons from the painter João Boaventura da Cruz, from Mato Grosso. From 1883, he studied with Almeida Júnior (1850 - 1899) in his studio on Rua da Glória in São Paulo. Between 1887 and 1888, he studied drawing with José Maria de Medeiros (1849 - 1925) and painting with Zeferino da Costa (1840 - 1915), as a scholarship student at the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes (Aiba) in Rio de Janeiro. Between 1890 and 1892, he attended the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes (Enba), but did not complete the course.
Back in São Paulo, he taught drawing at the Liceu de Artes e Ofícios de São Paulo (Laosp) in 1895 and 1896. He traveled to Paris with Almeida Júnior, on a grant from the State of São Paulo, and attended the studio of René-Louis Chrétien (1867 - 1942) and the Académie Fernand Cormon. He met Antoine Vollon (1833 - 1900) and studied with him from 1899. He also attended the Ateliê Lauri and studied with the painter Monroy. He returned to Brazil in the first decade of the 20th century and settled in São Paulo, where he taught drawing and painting. His students included Tarsila do Amaral (1886 - 1973), Anita Malfatti (1889 - 1964) and Bonadei (1906 - 1974), among others.
Education
1880 - Pirapora SP - Receives his first lessons in artistic painting from the painter João Boaventura da Cruz, from Mato Grosso
1883 - São Paulo SP - Studies with Almeida Júnior, who advises him to keep painting still lifes
1887/1888 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - As a scholarship student, studies drawing with José Maria de Medeiros (1849-1925) and painting with Zeferino da Costa (1840-1915) at Aiba
ca.1890/1892 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Studies at Enba. Does not complete the course
ca.1896 - Paris (France) - Studies in the studio of René Chrétien and at the Académie Fernand Cormon
1899/ca.1901 - Paris (France) - Studies in the studio of Antoine Vollon, at the Ateliê Lauri and with the painter Monroy
Critical Commentary
Even before his study trip to Paris, Pedro Alexandrino was already an artist specializing in still life. According to the art historian Ruth Tarasantchi, his production from this period is influenced by his teacher, Almeida Júnior (1850 - 1899), particularly in its smooth handling and use of dark backgrounds. In Cozinha na Roça [Country Kitchen], 1894, he presents a composition with freer brushstrokes, in which the painter's skill with color can be observed.
In France, he came into contact with the work of Antoine Vollon (1833 - 1900) and René-Louis Chrétien (1867 - 1942). In Paris, as Tarasantchi points out, his compositions became more complex, executed with broader brushstrokes and less concern for detail. The artist's taste for rounded or cylindrical forms can be seen in Flores e Doces [Flowers and Sweets], n.d., or in Metais, Porcelanas e Morangos [Metals, Porcelain and Strawberries], n.d.
Alexandrino is known for his depictions of metal objects, conveying their sense of volume and sheen. He sometimes brings together two or three different kinds of metal in a single painting, demonstrating his skill in rendering the distinct tones of each piece. Another constant in his work is the exploration of transparency effects when he paints crystal or glass bottles.
Critiques
"Pedro Alexandrino (...) proved to be the artist our society demanded in his time. He met the needs of collectors, since his easily readable paintings pleased the senses without requiring an artistic culture they did not possess. He painted realistically the objects and fruits that were part of the life or aspirations of São Paulo society; for that reason, his work gives us an idea of our milieu from the end of the last century until almost the middle of this one. It was he, more than any other painter, who let us glimpse our provincial milieu, of little culture yet at the same time pretentious, trying to make itself French".
Ruth Sprung Tarasantchi
TARASANTCHI, Ruth Sprung. A vida silenciosa na pintura de Pedro Alexandrino. 1981. Dissertação (Mestrado) - Escola de Comunicações e Artes - ECA/USP, São Paulo, 1981.
"Pedro Alexandrino, more fortunate than the others, went to the bustling Parisian center to perfect himself in the studios of notable and established specialists (...). But will he thereby have won the true traits of a complete and genuine artist, will he have given his work the indispensable educational character that immortalizes, in the history of each people, the great conceptions of its aesthetes? Frankly, it seems to me not. If the role of art is (...) to contribute to the perennial cultivation of man's affective feelings, in the home, in the homeland and in the world, (...) if such is the supremely eminent social function of art in all ages of planetary evolution, we arrive at this unappealable conclusion: still life is a veritable aberration. What elevated ideas and what profitable reflections can be suggested to us, for example, by a golden bunch of ripe bananas (...)? At most, they can awaken in us the lower instinct of gluttony".
Alberto de Sousa
TARASANTCHI, Ruth Sprung. A vida silenciosa na pintura de Pedro Alexandrino. 1981. Dissertação (Mestrado) - Escola de Comunicações e Artes - ECA/USP, São Paulo, 1981.
"Pedro Alexandrino specialized in still life because that is the genre most in keeping with his placid and prudent temperament. He never felt the pull of the unknown, never ventured down confused paths that might disturb the serenity he found in his artistic conviction. His art, without pretensions to creative genius, is solid because he is unquestionably a master of naturalistic drawing; it is sincere because the joy of color overflows from his paintings in firm and deliberate brushstrokes; it is honest because in his art he does not stray from the principles he adopted as the true ones".
Tarsila do Amaral
TARASANTCHI, Ruth Sprung. A vida silenciosa na pintura de Pedro Alexandrino. 1981. Dissertação (Mestrado) - Escola de Comunicações e Artes - ECA/USP, São Paulo, 1981.
Solo Exhibitions
1880 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Livraria Garraux
1881 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Livraria Garraux
1883 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Livraria Garraux
1890 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Casa Henschel
1890 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Casa Apollo
1891 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Casa Apollo
1891 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo
1891 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Casa Apollo
1896 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Salão do Grêmio dos Guarda-Livros
1905 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Liceu de Artes e Ofícios
1906 - Campinas SP - Solo, at Museu Carlos Gomes
1910 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Liceu de Artes e Ofícios
1922 - Santos SP - Solo, at Bazar Americano
Group Exhibitions
1894 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba - 3rd class gold medal
1895 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 2nd General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Enba - 2nd class gold medal
1895 - São Paulo SP - Almeida Júnior and Pedro Alexandrino, at Ateliê Almeida Júnior
1899 - Paris (France) - Paris Salon
1900 - Paris (France) - Paris Salon
1901 - Paris (France) - Paris Salon
1903 - Paris (France) - Paris Salon
1907 - Paris (France) - Paris Salon
1908 - Paris (France) - Paris Salon
1911 - São Paulo SP - 1st Brazilian Fine Arts Exhibition, at Liceu de Artes e Ofícios
1912 - São Paulo SP - 2nd Brazilian Fine Arts Exhibition, at Liceu de Artes e Ofícios
1922 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 29th General Exhibition of Fine Arts
1922 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Contemporary Art Exhibition
1922 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Independence Centennial Exhibition
1922 - São Paulo SP - 1st General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Palácio das Indústrias - gold medal
1928 - São Paulo SP - Grupo Almeida Júnior, at Palácio das Arcadas
1928 - São Paulo SP - Muse Italiche Fine Arts Salon, at Palácio das Indústrias
1934 - São Paulo SP - 1st São Paulo Fine Arts Salon - prize of honor and gold medal
1937 - São Paulo SP - 5th São Paulo Fine Arts Salon
1939 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 45th National Salon of Fine Arts - medal of honor
1939 - Santos SP - Painting Exhibition celebrating the first centenary of Santos being granted city status
1939 - São Paulo SP - 6th São Paulo Fine Arts Salon
1940 - São Paulo SP - 7th São Paulo Fine Arts Salon
1940 - São Paulo SP - Retrospective Exhibition: Works by the Great Masters of Painting and Their Disciples
Posthumous Exhibitions
1943 - São Paulo SP - 9th São Paulo Fine Arts Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1944 - São Paulo SP - Is honored at the Fine Arts Salon
1944c. - São Paulo SP - Collection displayed in the Sala Pedro Alexandrino, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1946 - São Paulo SP - São Paulo Fine Arts Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1950 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - A Century of Brazilian Painting: 1850-1950, at MNBA
1954 - São Paulo SP - 19th São Paulo Fine Arts Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1970 - São Paulo SP - Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo 1970
1976 - São Paulo SP - The Portrait in the Pinacoteca Collection, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1980 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Ochenta Años de Arte Brasileño, at Banco Itaú
1980 - São Paulo SP - Highlight of the Month of March, at Galeria Sesc Paulista
1981 - São Paulo SP - Four Great Painters in São Paulo, at Fundação Bienal
1982 - Bauru SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art
1982 - Marília SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art
1982 - São Paulo SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at MAB/Faap
1982 - São Paulo SP - Seascapes and Riverscapes, at Museu Lasar Segall
1983 - Belo Horizonte MG - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at Fundação Clóvis Salgado. Palácio das Artes
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 de Santo André
1986 - São Paulo SP - Dezenovevinte: A Turn of the Century, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1987 - São Paulo SP - Brazil Painted by Brazilian and Foreign Masters: 18th - 20th Centuries, at Masp
1988 - São Paulo SP - Brasiliana: Man and the Land, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1989 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Painting of the 19th and 20th Centuries: Works from the Banco Itaú Collection, at Itaugaleria
1990 - São Paulo SP - The Art Collection of the City of São Paulo, at Masp
1992 - São Paulo SP - Pedro Alexandrino Revisited, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1993 - Santos SP - Six Great Painters, at Pinacoteca Benedito Calixto
1994 - São Paulo SP - A Critical Look at the 19th-Century Collection, at Pinacoteca do Estado
2000 - Porto Alegre RS - From Frans Post to Eliseu Visconti: Museu Nacional de Belas Artes Collection - RJ, at Margs
2000 - São Paulo SP - 51st São Paulo Fine Arts Salon, at Assembleia Legislativa de São Paulo
2000 - São Paulo SP - Almeida Júnior: An Artist Revisited, at Pinacoteca do Estado
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brasil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition. 19th-Century Art, at Fundação Bienal
2001 - São Paulo SP - Museu de Arte Brasileira: 40 Years, at MAB/Faap
2002 - Brasília DF - Barão do Rio Branco: His Work and His Time, at Ministério das Relações Exteriores. Palácio do Itamaraty
2003 - São Paulo SP - Painters of the São Paulo Coast, at Sociarte
Source: Itaú Cultural
