Diario las Américas., 1958-04-12
Know thv
Nei9hbori
By ANTONIO RUIZ

BRAZIL - In several aspects of
Brazilian culture, the influence of
the Indian, the European cOlonist
and the imported African may be
found. The native or indigen-
Gus population did not contribute
much to the formation of the ma
~tionality, although they left their
mark in the form Of ceramics,
some basket work, various dance
steps and primitive rhythmS. In
the field of language their con-
tribution is more important, be-
cause of the poems and romantic
novels they inspired.
Regarding painting, however, the
conveyance of the three influen-
ceS did not prove very fruitful.
The native Indian left the linear
designs of his ceramics, tattooing
and masks; the African a riot of
color and a strong decorative ten
dency; and the Portuguese left no
line of artists that could encour-
age the Brazilians to follow that
form of art. 1t would seem that the
occupation of Recife and the sur
rounding territory by the Dutch
from 1880 to 1854 attracted a sud
den influx of painters to Brazil,
but even Franz Post, the best
known of them, was not one OF
the most outstanding artists of his
country, nor did he leave any fol
lowers in Brazil.
Painting, such as it appeared in
the colonial period, was subject to
Portuguese tradition and to pre-
carious circumstances, spread
mostly by self-teaching, and was
encouraged only by the demands
of religion. It may be said that it
grew up spontaneously, unmolest-
ed by any guiding restraint, and
constituted only a form of revela-
ton of creative spirit The talents
of Brazilian and Portuguese, both
laymen and friars were attracted
to the painting of church ceilings
in a number of cities in MinaS
Gerais, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro,
by the appeal of religious faith.
This sentiment also produced an
architectural cycle based on the
baroque style and inspired the
spontaneous but mastery and ex-
pressive sculpture and carvings of
Maese Aleijandinho, who won
wide acclaim. Architecture, sculp-
ture and carving far outdistanced
the painting of those days.
When Napoleon's armies forced
Dom Juan and his court to take
refuge in Brazil, this was an i'm.
portant factor in the development
of painting in the. country. Dom
Juan invited a French artistic mis-
sion to come to Brazil under the
leadership of Joachim Lebreton,
and including, among others, De
bret and Taunay. This group, how
ever, did not have the best France
could then offer in the way OF
painters. They were of only aver
age standing, and brought with
them the rigid academic spirit
Thus, the mission checked the ma
tural evolution of native painting
French conservative preference!
preferences won the upper HAND
and artistic self-expression was
crushed by the rigid application
of academic cannons.
1t was only after the declara
ton of the Republic in 1889, that
the Brazilian scene began to at
tract again the Brazilian artist
The first stage, toward the end Of
the 10th. century and the first
years of the GOTH, was concern
ed with an exploration of the land
Scape. This interest in the coun
try of ones birth is first reveal
ed in Almedida Junior, a painter
who did not allow himself to be
influenced by the technical in
novations of Paris, when he went
there on a scholarship, for the re
turned uninfluenced by the i'm
pressionist movement
Modern painters in Brazil have
broken away from the strict can
mons of foreign tendencies, while
fostering a warm, sympathetic in
terest in the land and the people
A clear example of this renewa,
Of painting in Brazil is Portinari
who has captured all the warmth
and color of his native Sac Paulo
Spanish Version Page 8