Quirino da Silva (Rio de Janeiro RJ 1897 - São Paulo SP 1981)
Critic, painter, sculptor, draftsman, ceramist, printmaker.
Between 1920 and 1925 he studied sculpture in the studio of Modestino Kanto (1889 - 1967) and painting with Modesto Brocos (1852 - 1936) at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes - Enba, in Rio de Janeiro. In 1923 he exhibited his paintings at the 1st Salão da Primavera [Spring Salon], which he organized. The event ended with its second edition in 1924. His first solo exhibition was presented in 1926 in São Carlos, São Paulo. That same year, he organized the Salão de Outono [Autumn Salon]. In 1930 he made allegorical panels for the Teatro João Caetano in Rio de Janeiro with Di Cavalcanti (1897 - 1976), and edited the magazine Forma. In 1933, he contributed to Base - Revista de Arte, Técnica e Pensamento [Base - Journal of Art, Technique and Thought], created by Alexandre Altberg. He moved to São Paulo in 1934 and exhibited ceramics at Casa Baloo. He conceived the Salão de Maio [May Salon] with the participation of Flávio de Carvalho (1899 - 1973) on the organizing committee - the event took place from 1937 to 1939. From 1938, he worked as an art critic for Diário de Notícias and Diários Associados. He organized the Art Salon of the National Industries Fair in 1941. In 1947 the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand - Masp was founded, and Quirino da Silva was appointed secretary of its first board. In 1972, with donated works, he organized the Museu de Artes Plásticas de Mococa, São Paulo, which in 1981 became the Museu de Artes Plásticas Quirino da Silva. In 1977 Masp honored him with a retrospective exhibition.
Critical Commentary
Quirino da Silva uses loose brushstrokes that build landscapes and portraits with vibrant colors. By simplifying the drawing and reducing concern with detail, the composition is enhanced. In this period the work of the French painter Paul Cézanne (1839 - 1906) is his main influence. Among his large-scale works, the painted bas-reliefs made with Di Cavalcanti (1897 - 1976) for the Teatro João Caetano in Rio de Janeiro stand out. They are allegories composed of masks and theatrical figures. In the 1980s, during a renovation of the building, the panels were destroyed.
Alongside his artistic production, his work as an art critic should be highlighted. In São Paulo he led the opposition to what, in many texts, he called "pure and simple adventure". While fighting so-called academic art, he showed himself resistant to excessive formal freedom. In his review of the work of Francisco Rebolo (1902 - 1980), published in Diário de São Paulo in February 1959, he wrote: "The great masters thrilled him. From them he learned a great deal. Above all he learned not to listen to the harangues of the false modernists". Still under the influence of the artistic ideals spread by the Semana de Arte Moderna [Modern Art Week], Quirino da Silva created the Salão de Maio. The aim was to encourage group exhibitions devoted to Brazilian modern art and to exchange with a certain international production.
Critiques
"Quirino da Silva is one of those names that impose themselves when one wishes to highlight the values of Brazilian modern art. Values settled by time, which fades the easy and seductive colors of unconscious pigmentation, while fixing and framing with the patina of serene and dispassionate admiration those of sound temper, gathered in the creative reason of time itself. (...) Colors thrill him and his painting flows freely in daily practice. The great painter, master of the handling of a palette vibrant in its sensitive sobriety, builds a body of work which, if not as numerous as one would wish, is dense with a thrilling orchestration. The portrait and the landscape emerge in the assurance and singularity of his technique, yes, his striking pictorial technique, in the shaping of a drawing he always cultivated with the strictest rigor of a sensitive record. He knew how to admire Cézanne. The master of Aix not only guided his grave and distinct brushstroke, the solid, dense chromatic construction, the loose paints of tactile interest, but also inspired his eager, restless, inquiring spirit."
Quirino Campofiorito
QUIRINO da Silva: exposição retrospectiva. Texto de Quirino Campofiorito. São Paulo: MASP, 1977.
Solo Exhibitions
1926 - São Carlos SP - Solo
1927 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Blanchon
1933 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo, at Fundação Graça Aranha
1934 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Galeria Martim
1934 - São Paulo SP - Solo, at Casa Baloo
1977 - São Paulo SP - Retrospectiva [Retrospective], at Masp
Group Exhibitions
1923 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1º Salão da Primavera [1st Spring Salon]
1924 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 2º Salão da Primavera [2nd Spring Salon]
1926 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1º Salão de Outono [1st Autumn Salon]
1926 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Salão dos Novos [Salon of the New]
1926 - São Paulo SP - Exhibits alongside Tonissi
1928 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 35ª Exposição Geral de Belas Artes [35th General Fine Arts Exhibition], at Enba
1929 - Rosario (Argentina) - 11º Salão de Rosário [11th Rosario Salon] - bronze medal
1930 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 37ª Exposição Geral de Belas Artes [37th General Fine Arts Exhibition], at Enba
1931 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Salão Revolucionário [Revolutionary Salon], at Enba
1937 - São Paulo SP - 1º Salão de Maio [1st May Salon]
1938 - São Paulo SP - 2º Salão de Maio [2nd May Salon]
1941 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Salão Nacional de Belas Artes [National Fine Arts Salon]
1941 - São Paulo SP - 1º Salão de Arte da Feira Nacional da Indústria [1st Art Salon of the National Industry Fair], at Parque da Água Branca
1942 - São Paulo SP - 7º Salão do Sindicato dos Artistas Plásticos [7th Salon of the Visual Artists' Union], at Galeria Prestes Maia
1944 - Belo Horizonte MG - Exposição de Arte Moderna [Modern Art Exhibition], at Edifício Mariana
1944 - London (England) - Exhibition of Modern Brazilian Paintings, presented by Rubem Navarro and promoted by the Royal Air Force
1944 - São Paulo SP - Exposição de Pintura Moderna Brasileira-Norte-Americana [Brazilian-North American Modern Painting Exhibition], at Galeria Prestes Maia
1945 - São Paulo SP - Alfredo Volpi, Bonadei, Carlos Prado, Quirino da Silva, Francisco Rebolo, Mário Zanini and José Pancetti, at Galeria Benedetti
1945 - São Paulo SP - Anita Malfatti, Virgínia Artigas, Clóvis Graciano, Mick Carnicelli, Oswald de Andrade Filho, José Pancetti, Carlos Prado, Francisco Rebolo, Quirino da Silva, Alfredo Volpi, Mário Zanini, at Galeria Itapetininga
1946 - São Paulo SP - Salão do Sindicato dos Artistas Plásticos [Salon of the Visual Artists' Union]
1949 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Exposição da Pintura Paulista [São Paulo Painting Exhibition]
1949 - Salvador BA - 1º Salão Baiano de Belas Artes [1st Bahia Fine Arts Salon]
1960 - São Paulo SP - 9º Salão Paulista de Arte Moderna [9th São Paulo Salon of Modern Art], at Galeria Prestes Maia
1973 - São Paulo SP - 5º Panorama de Arte Atual Brasileira [5th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art], at MAM/SP
1976 - São Paulo SP - Os Salões [The Salons], at Museu Lasar Segall
1976 - São Paulo SP - Os Salões: da Família Artística Paulista, de Maio e do Sindicato dos Artistas Plásticos de São Paulo [The Salons: of the Família Artística Paulista, of May and of the São Paulo Visual Artists' Union], at Museu Lasar Segall
Posthumous Exhibitions
1982 - São Paulo SP - Do Modernismo à Bienal [From Modernism to the Biennial], at MAM/SP
1982 - São Paulo SP - Retrospectiva [Retrospective], at Masp
1982 - São Paulo SP - Um Século de Escultura no Brasil [A Century of Sculpture in Brazil], at Masp
1984 - Fortaleza CE - 7º Salão Nacional de Artes Plásticas [7th National Visual Arts Salon]
1984 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 7º Salão Nacional de Artes Plásticas [7th National Visual Arts Salon], at MAM/RJ
1984 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Salão de 31 [The 1931 Salon], at Funarte
1984 - São Paulo SP - Tradição e Ruptura: síntese de arte e cultura brasileiras [Tradition and Rupture: A Synthesis of Brazilian Art and Culture], at Fundação Bienal
1992 - São Paulo SP - O Olhar de Sérgio sobre a Arte Brasileira: desenhos e pinturas [Sérgio's View of Brazilian Art: Drawings and Paintings], at Biblioteca Municipal Mário de Andrade
1996 - São Paulo SP - Arte Brasileira: 50 anos de história no acervo MAC/USP: 1920-1970 [Brazilian Art: 50 Years of History in the MAC/USP Collection: 1920-1970], at MAC/USP
1998 - São Paulo SP - Coleção MAM/BA: pinturas [MAM/BA Collection: Paintings], at MAM/SP
1998 - São Paulo SP - Fantasia Brasileira [Brazilian Fantasy], at Sesc
1998 - São Paulo SP - Fantasia Brasileira: o balé do IV Centenário [Brazilian Fantasy: The Fourth Centenary Ballet], at Sesc Belenzinho
1998 - São Paulo SP - O Colecionador [The Collector], at MAM/SP
2003 - São Paulo SP - MAC USP 40 Anos: interfaces contemporâneas [MAC USP 40 Years: Contemporary Interfaces], at MAC/USP
Source: Itaú Cultural
