Pedro Américo (Areia PB 1843 - Florença, Itália 1905)
Pedro Américo was a painter, draftsman, teacher, caricaturist and writer. Before he was ten years old, he accompanied the scientific expedition of the French naturalist Jean Brunet to Northeastern Brazil in 1852 as an assistant draftsman. Around 1855 he moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he studied at the Colégio Pedro II, and the following year enrolled at the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes (Aiba) [Imperial Academy of Fine Arts]. Between 1859 and 1864 he studied, on a grant from Emperor Dom Pedro II, at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, as a pupil of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Hippolyte Flandrin and Carle-Horace Vernet. He also attended the Physics Institute and the Sorbonne.
After a trip through Italy, he returned to Rio de Janeiro in 1864 and took up the chair of drawing at Aiba. The following year he settled in Brussels, where he earned a doctorate in natural sciences from the University of Brussels in 1868. He alternated periods between Rio de Janeiro and Florence, while remaining professor of aesthetics, art history and archaeology at Aiba. Between 1870 and 1871 he ran the caricature magazine A Comédia Social. In 1877 he exhibited in Florence the work Batalha de Avaí [Battle of Avaí], commissioned by the Ministry of the Army. The painting was shown again in 1879 at the Exposição Geral de Belas Artes [General Exhibition of Fine Arts], alongside Victor Meirelles's Batalha dos Guararapes [Battle of Guararapes], sparking intense controversy.
Between 1886 and 1888 he produced the canvas Independência ou Morte [Independence or Death], intended for the Hall of Honor of the Museu do Ipiranga, now the Museu Paulista da Universidade de São Paulo (MP/USP). With the Proclamation of the Republic, he was elected deputy to the National Constituent Assembly in 1890. In 1900 he returned to Florence.
Critical Commentary
Pedro Américo de Figueiredo e Mello was born into a family of musicians. He drew from a very early age, and in 1853, before he was 10, he was invited to join the expedition of the naturalist Jean Brunet as an assistant draftsman, traveling through part of Northeastern Brazil. The work earned him a recommendation to study at the Colégio Dom Pedro II in Rio de Janeiro, where he moved in 1854. A year later he enrolled at the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes - Aiba, where he studied for three years and progressed rapidly. The painter Porto Alegre (1806 - 1879), then director of Aiba, even nicknamed him "the medal-eater". His success was noticed even by Emperor Dom Pedro II (1825 - 1891), who personally arranged his transfer to Paris and paid the costs.
Thus, in 1859, Pedro Américo moved to France and enrolled at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He studied with Léon Cogniet (1794 - 1880) and Sébastien Melchior Cornu (1804 - 1870), a pupil of Hippolyte Flandrin (1809 - 1864). Highly curious, he studied physics, first at Monsieur Ganot's Institute and then at the Sorbonne. At that university he deepened his knowledge of architecture, theology, literature and philosophy, in which his teachers included Victor Cousin (1792 - 1867) and Claude Bernard (1813 - 1888). The artist attended physics lectures by Michael Faraday (1791 - 1867) and archaeology lectures by Charles Ernest Beulé (1826 - 1874). During his time in Paris he won many prizes and titles, including two prizes from the Academy of Fine Arts, and painted two of his most famous canvases: A Carioca [The Carioca Woman] (1882) and Sócrates Afastando Alcebíades do Vício [Socrates Turning Alcibiades Away from Vice] (ca. 1863). He earned a bachelor's degree in natural sciences from the Sorbonne with the thesis Considerações Filosóficas sobre as Belas Artes entre os Antigos [Philosophical Considerations on the Fine Arts among the Ancients].
After a short stay in Algeria, where he came to know Oriental life, a common interest in the paintings of his neoclassical masters, in 1862 Pedro Américo went to Belgium and enrolled at the Université de Bruxelles, which he attended irregularly, and in 1869 he received a doctorate in natural sciences. Back in Brazil in 1864, the painter competed for the chair of drawing at Aiba. He won it, but since the atmosphere in Rio de Janeiro proved unfavorable, he returned to France. This time his stay was harder, as he had scant resources. His teacher's salary barely covered ordinary expenses. Nevertheless, he produced important works of a religious nature. In 1869 he traveled to Portugal, intending to return to Brazil. In Lisbon he stayed at the home of his former teacher Porto Alegre, married his daughter Carlota and, early in 1870, returned to Brazil. He resumed his teaching post at Aiba, giving courses in aesthetics, art history and archaeology.
At this time he worked a great deal: he painted, directed the numismatics and archaeology sections of the Museu Histórico Nacional, wrote and drew caricatures for the periodical A Comédia Social. His canvases were mythological and historical scenes and portraits. Among his sitters were the emperors Dom Pedro I (1798 - 1834) and Dom Pedro II and Marshal Duke of Caxias. In 1871 he painted his first large panel, the war scene Batalha de Campo Grande [Battle of Campo Grande]. Following the painting's success, Pedro Américo was awarded the title of History Painter of the Imperial Chamber the following year, and later received the Crown's commission to paint A Batalha do Avaí [The Battle of Avaí] (1873 - 1877), a scene from the Paraguayan War. To work on the commission, the artist left for Europe in 1873 and the following year set up his studio in a room provided by the Italian government in the Convent of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence, where he remained for about three years. Once finished, the painting was first exhibited in Florence in 1877, in the presence of the Emperor of Brazil. When it arrived in Rio de Janeiro in the middle of that year, the painting provoked enthusiastic reactions. Some supported it vehemently; others were irritated and accused Pedro Américo of plagiarizing the canvas Batalha de Montebello [Battle of Montebello] by the Italian Andrea Appiani (1754 - 1817).
Around 1879 he returned to Florence, where he painted some of his most important pictures. From this period date O Voto de Heloísa [Héloïse's Vow] (1880), Judite e Holofernes [Judith and Holofernes] (1880), Moisés e Jocabed [Moses and Jochebed] (1884) and Rabequista Árabe [Arab Fiddler] (1884). In this period he also devoted himself to writing. In 1880 he published Discurso sobre o Plágio na Literatura e na Arte [Discourse on Plagiarism in Literature and Art], defending himself against the accusations of plagiarism. In 1881 the artist published the novel Holocausto [Holocaust], biographically inspired. It was poorly received - highly idealized, even more than the scenes in his paintings, it was considered implausible. In 1885 Pedro Américo returned to Brazil and resumed the chair of art history, aesthetics and archaeology at Aiba, and the following year published another novel, Amor de Esposo [A Husband's Love]. He stayed only briefly and returned to Florence, this time because of the commission from the province of São Paulo for the scene of the proclamation of Brazil's independence. He remained in the city until 1888, when he delivered his best-known work: Independência ou Morte [Independence or Death] (1888) - also known as O Grito do Ipiranga [The Cry of Ipiranga]. His work once again generated controversy. Its similarity to the painting 1807 - A Batalha de Friedland [1807 - The Battle of Friedland] by the French painter Ernest Meissonier (1815 - 1891) was pointed out. In November 1916, Monteiro Lobato (1882 - 1948) said of this canvas that "rarely does the art of painting reach such a peak".1 Despite harshly criticizing Pedro Américo for disdaining "the rough path" of a genuinely Brazilian art, he praised his technical qualities and his handling of academic forms.
With the fall of the monarchy, the republican regime carried out a reform of Aiba in 1890, renaming it Escola Nacional de Belas Artes - Enba [National School of Fine Arts]. The older professors close to the emperor were removed, Pedro Américo among them. That same year he was elected deputy for Paraíba. He was not very present at the sessions of the Chamber, but played an important role. He introduced bills for the creation of museums, galleries and universities throughout the country, for shortening the presidential term and for granting a lifetime pension to the deposed emperor. Between his parliamentary duties, Pedro Américo painted canvases such as Tiradentes Esquartejado [Tiradentes Quartered] (1893).
In 1894, his health badly shaken, the artist moved to Florence, this time permanently. There he wrote two novels: Foragido [Fugitive], published in 1899, and Cidade Eterna [Eternal City], published in 1903. Despite his frailty, he painted a great deal. He remained in Italy until his death in 1905.
Notes
1 LOBATO, Monteiro. Pedro Américo. In: ______. Ideias de Jeca Tatu. São Paulo: Editora Brasiliense, 1951. p. 75.
Critiques
"Experts claim that no draftsman as perfect as Pedro Américo has yet appeared in Brazil. His painting Batalha do Avaí is considered a model of technique. Other marvels: O Grito do Ipiranga, David e Abisag and A Carioca. The latter was painted in Europe and sent as a gift to Emperor Pedro II. It depicts a beautiful dark-haired carioca woman, nude, bathing in the Cascatinha da Tijuca. A true work of art and good taste. However, the steward of the Imperial Household considered the subject too licentious to hang in His Majesty's Gallery. The painting was returned, and the great painter, his pride wounded, offered it to Wilhelm I, Emperor of Germany. For the gesture he was awarded a gold medal".
José Claudino da Nóbrega
NÓBREGA, José Claudino da. Paraíba pequena mas gloriosa. In: ______. Memórias de um viajante antiquário. São Paulo: Raízes, 1984. p. 84.
"The artist abandoned the hackneyed lines of academic composition and composed the subject as he saw fit, to convey the impression received more directly. For some, this way of proceeding is an unforgivable error, because it disregards the most austere principles of art. If, however, we look closely at the cause of the impersonality of artists of careful studies and notable intelligence, we will find as its fundamental cause those very austere principles of art that so preoccupy the conventionalist critics. To limit the artist to copying the compositional line of this or that old master, of Raphael or Rubens, of Leonardo or Rembrandt, is to deny the right to style, which is the affirmation of individuality. To copy the masterpieces of the masters is to try to imitate them, and imitation does nothing but enhance the merit of the original. Besides, whoever imitates does so because he cannot invent. The composition of the Episódio Militar de Campo Grande [Military Episode of Campo Grande], somewhat timid in places, is nevertheless the first phase of that broad and vigorous style we see in the Batalha do Avaí. We must pay close attention to a point of the utmost importance. Style is not only touch. A mediocrity, as E. Véron states, may have the most skillful touch and will never, for that reason, cease to be a mediocrity. Style is the artist himself seen through his work; it is the whole of his work: the expression, the subject, the touch, the line and, above all, the color; it is, in short, the je ne sais quoi Fromentin speaks of in his Les Maîtres d'Autrefois: 'N'y a-t-il pas dans tout artiste digne de ce nom un je ne sais quoi qui se charge de ce soin naturellement et sans effort?'".
Gonzaga Duque
DUQUE, Gonzaga. Progresso. In: ___. A arte brasileira. Campinas: Mercado de Letras, 1995. p. 151-152. (Arte: ensaios e documentos).
"As Gonzaga Duque clearly saw in his novel Mocidade Morta, Pedro Américo was the prototype of the official painter who knows how to promote his own art, making uninhibited use of public institutions and the media. With Independência ou Morte, presented in Florence in 1887 in the presence of the emperor and the highest European aristocracy, Américo put himself forward as the bard of the empire; even so, the Academy did not open its doors to him. The birth of the Republic offered him the ideal frame for a new attempt, with Paz e Concórdia [Peace and Concord], for example, now in the Palácio do Itamaraty in Rio de Janeiro. As the backdrop of that same painting, Pedro Américo painted a large monumental building, a temple-museum inside which his Independência ou Morte can be seen, the great history painting that represents the founding monument of Brazilian independence. For Pedro Américo, being the painter-priest of the nation was a vocation. He saw himself as a painter worthy of a national monument, of an Altar of the Fatherland all in marble and Capitoline wolves. (...) The boundless scale of his ambitions and the lack of undisputed public recognition made him the prototype of the misunderstood genius depicted in his unfortunate, largely autobiographical novel Holocausto. With undeniable skill, which has parallels in the uninhibited historicism of Gervex, Pedro Américo would record his pessimism and frustration in the extraordinary Tiradentes Esquartejado [Tiradentes Quartered], at the Museu Mariano Procópio in Juiz de Fora, in which the canons of heroic representation are sarcastically distorted, acquiring a hallucinatory Grand Guignol atmosphere".
Luciano Migliaccio
MIGLIACCIO, Luciano. A segunda metade do século. In: MOSTRA DO REDESCOBRIMENTO, 2000, SÃO PAULO. Arte do século XIX. São Paulo: Fundação Bienal de São Paulo: Associação Brasil 500 Anos Artes Visuais, 2000. p. 113.
Solo Exhibitions
1877 - Florence (Italy) - Shows the work Batalha do Avaí [Battle of Avaí], at Convento da Santíssima Annunziata
ca.1880 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Shows the work Batalha do Avaí [Battle of Avaí], at Largo do Paço
1888 - Florence (Italy) - The work Independência ou Morte [Independence or Death], in the presence of Dom Pedro II
Group Exhibitions
1856 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st Quarterly Competition, at Aiba - gold medal
1864 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 16th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Aiba
1865 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 17th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Aiba
1867 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 19th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Aiba
1872 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 22nd General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Aiba
1876 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 24th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Aiba
1879 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 25th General Exhibition of Fine Arts, at Aiba
1884 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Works Sent from Florence, 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
1900 - Paris (France) - Paris Exposition Universelle
1900 - Paris (France) - Pedro Weingartner, Pedro Américo and Eliseu Visconti
Posthumous Exhibitions
1940 - São Paulo SP - Retrospective Exhibition: Works by the Great Masters of Painting and Their Disciples
1941 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Pedro Américo and Victor Meirelles, at MNBA
1950 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - A Century of Brazilian Painting: 1850-1950, at MNBA
1970 - São Paulo SP - Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo 1970
1987 - São Paulo SP - Brazil Painted by National and Foreign Masters: 18th-20th Centuries, at Masp
1989 - Fortaleza CE - Brazilian Art of the 19th and 20th Centuries in Ceará Collections: Paintings and Drawings, at Espaço Cultural da Unifor
1989 - Ouro Preto MG - Inconfidência Ideology in Process, at Museu da Inconfidência
1991 - São Paulo SP - Desire in the Academy: 1847-1916, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1993 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Sesquicentennial of the Birth of Pedro Américo, at MNBA
1994 - São Paulo SP - A Critical Look at the 19th-Century Collection, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1996 - Barra Mansa RJ - 12 Names in Brazilian Painting, at Centro Universitário de Barra Mansa
1998 - São Paulo SP - 24th Bienal Internacional de São Paulo, at Fundação Bienal
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazil Rediscovered, at Paço Imperial
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brazil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition. 19th-Century Art and Black in Body and Soul, at Fundação Bienal
2000 - Porto Alegre RS - From Frans Post to Eliseu Visconti: Museu Nacional de Belas Artes Collection, at Margs
2000 - São Paulo SP - 7th Art and Antiques Salon, at A Hebraica
2001 - São Paulo SP - 30 Masters of Painting in Brazil, at Masp
2001 - São Paulo SP - Aldo Franco Collection, at Pinacoteca do Estado
2002 - Brasília DF - Baron of Rio Branco: His Work and His Time, at Ministério das Relações Exteriores. Palácio do Itamaraty
2002 - Niterói RJ - Brazilian Art on Paper: 19th and 20th Centuries, at Solar do Jambeiro
2002 - São Paulo SP - Image and Identity: A Look at History in the Museu de Belas Artes Collection, at Instituto Cultural Banco Santos
2004 - São Paulo SP - Paper Cabinet, at CCSP
Source: Itaú Cultural
