Emiliano Augusto Cavalcanti de Albuquerque Melo

Emiliano Augusto Cavalcanti de Albuquerque Melo, (September 6, 1897–October 26, 1976), known as Di Cavalcanti, was a Brazilian painter. Married to the painter Noêmia Mourão in 1932, who would be an inspiration in his works in the later 1930’s. After a prior marriage to his cousin Maria in 1921. Engaged in a pursuit for a Law degree in São Paolo and did not manage to complete this pursuit.Interpretations of artworksIf one looks at the works of art presented by Di Cavalcanti one has to come to terms that this goes against art one would have seen before and thus one has to examine these works differently. Di Cavalcanti was obviously obsessed with the female body, since very many representations are to be found within the works he produced. The street scenes depicted by Cavalcanti have such a friendly feeling to them and one cannot deny the feelings these images evoke within the onlooker themselves. The art Di Cavalcanti produced is very friendly due to the bright color palette and the depictions of everyday life in such a normal, non-romanticized way that they evoke no strong political undercurrent, as seen in the muralisms found in Mexico around the 1930’s and ‘40’s made by Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros. The works produced by these artist were very much so part of revolutionary movement in opposition of the new revolutionary government who came to power in Mexico. Di Cavalcanti on the other hand refrained from overwhelming political representations and made friendly art although he himself was in a pursuit of perfecting the pure Brazilian art which had a clear break with the European influences who had their influences on the art before and still had after Di Cavalcanti started producing his art.

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the early years (1987-1922)
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1897, Di Cavalcanti became influenced by the intellectuals he met at his uncle’s house. This would provide the basis for a lifelong politically driven artistic career, which would start by the production of a drawing published by the magazine fon-fon. Di Cavalcanti moved to São Paulo in 1917. At this time Di Cavalcanti held his first exhibition at the Editora do Livro (o livro bookstore) in São Paulo. This first exhibition would only include caricatures with very viable symbolist influences to be found presented in the works. In 1918 Di Cavalcanti would become part of a group of intellectuals and artists in São Paulo which would contain artist like Oswald de Andrade, Mário de Andrade, Guilherme de Almeida, etc. This group would be the direct cause for bringing the Semana de Arte(week of modern art) in life in 1922. For which one can see the cover page on the right of this page. This movement along with the Group of Five wished to revive the artistic environment in São Paulo at the time and had as main interest to free the Brazilian art from the European influences found within it. The works Di Cavalcanti displayed at the Semana would however possess a varying symbolist, expressionistic, and impressionistic influences. This can thus be seen as a continuance of European stylistic influences and this would not change until Di Cavalcanti would return from Paris in 1925 and would locate himself in Rio de Janeiro once again.

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Years abroad (1923-1925)
Di Cavalcanti would leave the South American continent and would locate himself in Paris and Montparnasse in 1923 until 1925. During this time Di Cavalcanti was employed as a correspondent for the newspaper Correio da Manhã and would attend classes at the Académie Ranson in Paris, which would directly lead him to meet European modernists like Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, George Braque, and Léger. During this time his feelings to create a true Brazilian art would flourish and thus lead to his later works.

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Return to Rio de Janeiro (1926-1936)

After returning from Europe and having experienced the modernist movement in Europe Di Cavalcanti would start working on a more Brazilian art, which Di Cavalcanti and the group who held the Semana de Arte already advocated in 1922. During this time Di Cavalcanti would join the Brazilian Communist Party due to the heightened nationalistic feelings.Di Cavalcanti felt these feelings due to his stay abroad in Paris for three years.Di Cavalcanti embodies the problematic tendency of Brazilian modernists to be pulled in two directions: his subject matter consists of particularly Brazilian themes (mostly mulatto women), but his chief artistic influences are the European modernists and Pablo Picasso most of all. In 1929 Di Cavalcanti also started to work on interior design, as seen in the two panels produced for the Teatro João Caetano ( João Caetano Theatre) in Rio de Janeiro. This was thus another notch in the artistic belt Di Cavalcanti embodied, varying from drawings to paintings and also interior design. In 1930 Di Cavalcanti was involved in an exhibition of Brazilian art at the International Art Center at the Roerich Museum in New York. At this time Di Cavalcanti once again was involved with correspondence and magazines as he was the principal writer for the newly established magazine forma. In 1932 another large group was established by Lasar Segall, Anita Malfatti, and Vitor Becheret which was the Sociedade Pró-Arter Moderna also known as SPAM. The goal of this group was to bring modernism to Brazilian art and follow in the footsteps of the Semana de Arte and encourage a revival of its ideas. On April 28th, 1933 this group would hold the Exposição de Arte Moderna, which would be the first exhibition to feature works produced by Pablo Picasso, Léger, and George Braque all of which were know by the Brazilian people, however these works were never seen in the flesh before this exhibition. The exhibition pieces from the European masters were all borrowed from local Brazilian private collections. This exhibition was such a success that during the second showing in the fall many local Brazilian artist like Di Cavalcanti, Portinari, etc. took part in the exhibition. During the next years until 1937 Di Cavalcanti would be jailed twice for the communistic beliefs and ties he undertook in prior years. During his first incarceration in 1932 Di Cavalcanti would actually meet his wife to be painter Noêmia Mourão after being incarcerated for supporting Revolução Paulisto. The year after this Di Cavalcanti would marry Noêmia Mourão and she became his traveling partner for the years to come until they both got jailed in 1936.

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Europe again(1937-1940)

In 1937 Di Cavalcanti and his wife Noêmia Mourão would set sail to Paris to stay there until the outbreak of World War II in the start of 1940. During this three year stay abroad Di Cavalcanti was awarded a Gold medal in the Art Technique Exhibition in Paris for his murals performed in the French-Brazilian Coffee Company. After this Di Cavalcanti would produce around 40 works, only to be left behind when he and his wife fled the country on the eve of the German Nazi invasion and would arrive back in São Paolo in 1940.Back in Brazil (1941-1976)After his return to Brazil his nationalistic feelings became even stronger and one can see that in the representations of mulatto women, carnivals, Negroes, deserted alleys, and tropical landscapes which are only to be found in the Brazilian everyday life and social settings and not in European settings and thus providing a clear distinction. Only to lecture about these things in 1948 in the Museu de Arte de São Paulo. Providing a lecture on modernism, expressing nationalism, and opposing abstraction. However trying to do so one will always be encouraged to see the European influences in the works produced by Di Cavalcanti. Di Cavalcanti tried to steer away from these influence, however was ultimately unable to do so during his career. In 1951 the first of the Bienals was held at the Museu de Arte Moderna at São Paulo and provided a great example where Di Cavalcanti’s works were shown. At the Bienal there were many more artists from the South American continent who were seeking for a true national art. The Mexican Muralists Diego Rivera and David Siquieros were thus personally invited by Di Cavalcanti and actually attended. The exuberance and expression of true south American art was a very strong incentive for the founder Francisco Matarazzo Sobrinho or also known as Ciccilo to hold this exhibition again and after completion there was another exhibition to be shown in 1953 . The works left behind after feeing Europe in 1940 were to be recovered in 1966 in the basement of the Brazilian Embassy in Paris.The friendship with local patron and creator of the Bienals, Francisco Matarazzo Sobrinho or better known as Ciccilo, was a direct effect to the donation of 559 drawing by Di Cavalcanti himself to the Museu de Arte Contemporânea which was founded by Ciccilo. The Museu de Arte Contempemporânea is also better known as the MAC and currently has 564 drawings of Di Cavalcanti in its possession of which only 5 were acquired through purchases and the others through the donation by Di Cavalcanti himself.

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Style

Di Cavalcanti tried through the creation of the Semana de Arte in 1922 and the Bienals in either 1951 and 1953 to push for a true Brazilian art which was to be seen as separated from European stylistic influences. This was a dream and philosophy which can be seen as an ideal for Di Cavalcanti which was never found as one can see stylistic influences from the Italian Renaissance, Muralism, and the European Modernists.

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Bibliography

Lucie-Smith, Edward, Latin American Art of the 20th Century, Thames & Hudson, Singapore, 2004Amaral, Aracy, Emiliano di Cavalcanti, Americas Society, New York, 1987.Lemos, Carlos, The art of Brazil, Harper & Row, New York, 1983.
http://www.escritoriodearte.com/listarQuadros.asp?artista=23
http://www.sampa.art.br/SAOPAULO/Di%20Cavalcanti.htm

Nomes: Aline 05, Carina 15, Carla 16, Taise 37 3°I