Walter Lewy (Bad Oldesloe, Germany 1905 - São Paulo SP 1995)
Walter Lewy was a recorder, painter, illustrator, landscape designer, draftsman and publicist. He studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in Dortmund, Germany, between 1923 and 1927. During this period, he joined the trend of magical realism. In 1928, he participated in group exhibitions in Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Boclusim and other cities.
With the economic crisis of 1929, Lewy lost his job as a designer at a printer and moved to live with Parents inside, becoming an anecdote illustrator in newspapers. He held his first solo exhibition at Bad Lippsprige in 1932, but it was closed when the German Art Chamber forbade the participation of Jews in the artistic life.
Escaping from this oppressive situation, the artist immigrated to Brazil in 1938, where he professionally resumed painting. He left behind hundreds of works that were sent to the Netherlands and later lost during the bombings of the Second World War (1939-1945).
In Brazil, he settled in São Paulo. In the first years, he dedicated himself to advertising drawing and later produced book covers and illustrations for several publishers. He illustrated works by Bertrand Russell, Machado de Assis and Arnold Toynbee, among others. Subsequently, he employed as a diagrammer, lyricist and artfinalist in several advertising agencies, including De Carli, Lintas Advertising, Martinelli, Santos & Santos and Thompson Propaganda.
Critical Comment
Walter Lewy is identified as one of the main names in surrealism in Brazil, so much so that the artist himself declares:
"I believe that surrealism has been, For me, a need for renewal, not only adequate to the moment (between wars) we lived, but even an entry into an inexhaustible field. For me, surrealism is inexhaustible, it is always renewed and, by its own content, remains current." Painting consists of an irrational and delusional personal imaginary, in which lunar landscapes, fantastic plants, amorphous and indefinite objects, inserted in a spectral and dreamlike space are mixed. There is something in his canvases about the immobility and transcendence of the metaphysical works of Giorgio de Chirico. The artist makes use of chromatic masses of chromatic and intense, and evokes the imaginary universe of writers such as Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe, and of painters such as Max Ernst and Yves Tanguy. Regarding Lewy's work, the critic Sérgio Milliet notes that it has a first phase of deformation of the figure and exploration of the poetic absurdity, then going through the experience of forms in freedom until, after all, the painting of a world of cosmic fantasy. mastery of his work instrument is perceptible through his work, in the cleaning of the execution and in the conscious harmony of color and values.
Notes
1 LEWY, Walter. Tropical Surrealism. São Paulo: Espaço Cultural do Banco do Brasil, 1990. Pag 2
2 Ibidem.
Criticism
"Despite a period of work, right after arriving in Brazil at the end of the decade of 1930, in which the direct stimulus of the new earth made him worry about portraying our popular types and customs, especially through drawings and engravings, the painting by Walter Lewy, since before the transfer, but especially in the last fifteen or twenty years, observes a natural connection with surrealism. scope, the atmosphere that most attracts it is one in which it can place a set of symbols of dream substrate, remaking all objective reality in terms of a new universe of recognizable forms, but displaced from its original situation, or forms obtained by lacerations and Accumulation of organic, visceral or erotic background elements. As in Max Ernst and Yves Tanguy, two surrealists of whose Lewy lineage is closest, there is in this painting, mental and narrative, a desire to allegorically comment on the human condition in Contemporary plot, in search of universal and timeless characteristics that define it beyond the contingencies of a single time and moment. Mental mediation, amalgamating plant and mineral configurations in a world as real and fantastic, aims to place the now in the breadth of a flow that abolishes all circumstance of time and place". Roberto. Arte/Brazil/Today: 50 years later São Paulo: Collectio, 1973.
"(...) For sixty years he has been creating these charms with a great fidelity to his concepts, evolving his landscapes Fantastic for a cosmic view never seen before. Among us, in Brazil, he represents in a unique way the art that creates imaginary worlds, confronts us with the dream world, takes us to a nature of formations and plants, represented in very exact designs and shapes. It is a superba technique painting, comparable to that of the ancient masters. In very vivid colors it gives us the pleasure of feeling an astral integration, entirely conceived by the master's mind and brushes. With these works of his Walter Lewy, one of the great names of surrealism, he became an exponent of sui generis in the history and present day of artistic creation in Brazil". Lewy: Oils and Lithographs. Presentation by Wolfgang Pfeiffer. São Paulo: Faculdade Santa Marcelina, Galeria, 1985.
Individual exhibitions
1932 - Bad LippsPriving (Germany) - First individual, immediately closed when the German Art Chamber prohibits the participation of Jews in the artistic life
1944 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Atelier Clóvis Graciano
1947 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the Domus Gallery
1956 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at MASP
1960 - Campinas SP - Individual, at the AREMAR gallery
1963 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the São Luís Gallery
1965 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Astreia
1966 - Belo Horizonte MG - Individual, at Galeria Guignard
1966 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the Brazilian Art Gallery
1967 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Astreia
1968 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Individual, at Galeria Goeldi
1972 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Galeria Portal
1974 - São Paulo SP - Retrospective, at MAM
1974 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the Bonfiglioli Gallery - Best Exhibition of the Year, ABCA Travel Award at ABCA
1976 - Paris (France) - Individual, at the Debret Gallery
1977 - São Paulo SP - Individual, in Alberto Bonfiglioli Gallery
1982 - São Paulo SP - The Fantastic Dimensioning of Walter Lewy, at the Uirapuru Gallery
1985 - São Paulo SP - Homage to Walter Levy, at the Santa Marcelina College Gallery
1986 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at the Uirapuru Gallery
1989 - São Paulo SP - Individual, at Espaço Aldo Marchand
1990 - São Paulo SP - Tropical Surrealism, at the Cultural Space Banco Central do Brasil
Collective exhibitions
1941 - São Paulo SP - 1st Art Salon of the National Industry Fair, at Água Branca Park
1942 - São Paulo SP - 7th Hall of the Plastic Artists Union, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1944 - São Paulo SP - 9th Hall of the Plastic Artists Union, at the Prestes Maia Gallery
1945 - São Paulo SP - Domus Gallery: Inaugural Exhibition, at the Domus Gallery
1946 - Santiago (Chile) - Brazilian Artists Show
1947 - São Paulo SP - Hall of the Plastic Artists Union
1951 - São Paulo SP - 1st São Paulo International Biennial, at the Trianon Pavilion
1952 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st National Salon of Modern Art
1952 - São Paulo SP - 2nd Salão Paulista de Arte Moderna, at the Prestes Maia Gallery - Big Silver Medal
1953 - Japan - 2nd International Art Exhibition
1953 - São Paulo SP - 2nd São Paulo International Biennial, at the Pavilion of the States
1954 - Salvador BA - 4th Bahia Salon of Fine Arts, at the Hotel Bahia
1954 - São Paulo SP - 3rd Salão Paulista of Modern Art, at the Prestes Maia Gallery - Small Gold Medal
1955 - São Paulo SP - 3rd São Paulo International Biennial, at the Pavilion of Nations
1955 - São Paulo SP - 4th São Paulo Salon of Modern Art, at the Prestes Maia
1956 - Salvador BA - Baiano Salão de Fine Arts - Bronze Medal
1957 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 2nd National Salon of Modern Art
1957 - São Paulo SP - 6th Salão Paulista de Arte Moderna, at the Prestes Maia Gallery - Acquisition Award
1958 - São Paulo SP - 7th Salão Paulista de Arte Moderna, at the Prestes Maia Gallery
1961 - São Paulo SP - 6th São Paulo International Biennial, at the Ciccilo Pavilion Matarazzo Sobrinho
1963 - São Paulo SP - 12th Salão Paulista de Arte Moderna, at the Prestes Maia Gallery - Acquisition Award
1965 - São Paulo SP - 14th São Paulo Salão de Arte Moderna, at Galeria Prestes Maia - 1st State Government Award
1965 - São Paulo SP - 8th International Biennial of São Paulo, at Fundação Bienal
1966 - São Paulo SP - Three premises, at MAB-FAAP
1967 - São Paulo SP - 12 surrealist artists, at the auditorium Italy
1969 - São Paulo SP - 10th São Paulo International Biennial, at the Bienal Foundation
1969 - São Paulo SP - 1st Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, MAM/SP
1970 - São Paulo SP - 2nd Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1970 - São Paulo SP - Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo 1970
1972 - São Paulo Paulo SP - Art/Brazil/Today: 50 years later, at the Collectio Gallery
1973 - São Paulo SP - 5th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1973 - São Paulo SP - Collective, at the gallery Documentation
1974 - São Paulo SP - Retrospective - 35 years of painting in Brazil, at MASP
1975 - Penápolis SP - 1st Salon of Visual Arts of the Northwest, at the Educational Foundation of Penápolis. Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Penápolis
1975 - São Paulo SP - 13th International Biennial of São Paulo, at Fundação Bienal
1976 - Penápolis SP - 2nd Salon of Plastic Arts of the Northwest, in the Penapolis Educational Foundation. Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Penápolis
1976 - São Paulo SP - 8th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1976 - São Paulo SP - The Salons: from the São Paulo Artistic Family, in May and the Sindicato dos Artistas Plastics of São Paulo, at the Lasar Segall Museum
1977 - São Paulo SP - 9th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1978 - Penápolis SP - 3rd Salon of Plastic Arts of the Northwest, in the Penapolis Educational Foundation. Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Penápolis
1978 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 18th Exhibition Art and Ecological Thought, at the Euclides da Cunha Library
1978 - São Paulo SP - 16th Art and Ecological Thought, NA Cetesb
1980 - Penápolis SP - 4th Northwest Plastic Arts Hall, at the Penápolis Educational Foundation. Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Penápolis
1982 - Penápolis SP - 5th Northwest Plastic Arts Hall, at the Penápolis Educational Foundation. Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Penápolis
1982 - São Paulo SP - From Modernism to Biennial, at MAM/SP
1985 - Penápolis SP - 6th Northwest Plastic Arts Hall, at the Educational Foundation of Penapolis. Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Penápolis
1985 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 8th National Salon of Plastic Arts, at MAM/RJ
1985 - São Paulo SP - The Art of the Imaginary, at the Encontro das Artes Galeria
1990 - São Paulo SP - Tropical Surrealism, at CCBB
1994 - Poços de Caldas MG - Unibanco Collection: Exhibition commemorating the 70th anniversary of Unibanco, at Casa da Cultura
1995 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Unibanco Collection: Exhibition commemorating the 70th anniversary of Unibanco, at MAM/RJ
Postomy exhibitions
1995 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Unibanco Collection: Exhibition commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Unibanco, at MAM/RJ
1996 - Osasco SP - 4th Art Exhibition, at Centro Universitário FIEO
1996 - São Paulo SP - The world of Mario Schenberg, at Casa das Rosas
1998 - São Paulo SP - Impressions: The Art of Brazilian Engraving, at the Banespa-Paulista Cultural Space
2000 - Brasília DF - Brazil Europe Exhibition: Encounters in the 20th Century, at the Caixa Cultural Complex
2002 - São Paulo SP - Modernism: from the week of 22 to the Art Section of Sérgio Milliet, at CCSP
2003 - São Paulo SP - The Art behind the Art: Where they stay and how they travel the works of art, at MAM/SP
2004 - São Paulo SP - New acquisitions: 1995 - 2003, at MAB/FAAP
Source: Itaú Cultural