Pedro Weingartner (Porto Alegre RS 1853 - idem 1929)
Pedro Weingartner was a painter, printmaker, lithographer, draftsman and teacher. The son of German immigrants, he began his working life as a traveling salesman and then as a lithographer. In 1879, he traveled at his own expense to Hamburg, Germany, where he studied at the School of Arts and Crafts. He then went to Karlsruhe and entered the Baden School of Fine Arts, where he studied under Ferdinand Keller (1842–1922), Theodor Poeckh (1839–1921) and Ernst Hildebrandt.
In the early 1880s, he moved to Paris, where he studied with Tony Robert-Fleury (1837–1911) and William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905), with whom he remained for three years. Bouguereau asked Emperor Dom Pedro II (1825–1891) for a grant so that Weingartner could continue his studies in Europe. In 1886, he settled in Rome, where he lived for a long time. He traveled frequently to Brazil and took part in several exhibitions. In 1888, he held a solo exhibition in Rio de Janeiro of landscapes and genre scenes, highly praised by Brazilian critics.
Back in Brazil in 1891, he became professor of figure drawing at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes (Enba) in Rio de Janeiro. He made several trips to the south of the country, exploring regional themes that became recurrent in his work. He traveled to Italy again between 1896 and 1902, and later between 1911 and 1920, while making frequent trips to Brazil. He also took up etching, of which he was one of the pioneers in the country.
Critical Commentary
The son of German immigrants, Weingartner begins his artistic training in his family's lithography workshop. In 1879, seeking to improve his skills, he travels at his own expense to Hamburg, where he studies at the School of Arts and Crafts. He then goes to Karlsruhe and studies at the Baden School of Fine Arts, where his teachers are Ferdinand Keller (1842 - 1922), Theodor Poeckh (1839 - 1921) and Ernst Hildebrandt. When the latter moves to Berlin, he follows his master and enters the Academy of Fine Arts. According to the art historian Quirino Campofiorito (1902 - 1993), contact with these artists marks Weingartner's production, above all in its concern with detail, giving his compositions a meticulous treatment that brings them close to the photographic image.
In the early 1880s, he studies in Paris with Tony Robert-Fleury (1837 - 1911) and William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825 - 1905). He later settles in Rome, with a subsidy from Emperor Dom Pedro II (1825 - 1891). The artist travels frequently to Brazil and exhibits in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Porto Alegre. In 1888, in a solo exhibition in Brazil, he shows several genre scenes and landscapes painted in Italy, with great success.
Between 1891 and 1896, Weingartner teaches figure drawing at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes - Enba. In this period he makes several trips to the south of the country, where he begins to explore regional motifs, a theme that becomes constant in his production, as in Chegou Tarde [Arrived Late], n.d., Desterro, n.d., Paisagem do Rio Grande do Sul [Landscape of Rio Grande do Sul], 1900, or Ceifa [Harvest], n.d. For the art historian Luciano Migliaccio, the artist founds a new regionalism in Brazilian painting, depicting the life of immigrants in the south of the country with sensitivity. The artist also produces etchings and lithographs with refined technical skill.
Source: Itaú Cultural
