'The last time I saw Portinari, his eyes were teary. If I’m not mistaken, it was in the Castelo district of Rio, where I was catching a bus or trolley, and he was there with his Maria. We only spoke for a minute. He was thin; he hugged me tightly and said, Imagine. I can’t paint anymore; the doctor has prohibited it. This was in the afternoon, when the light hits everything at an angle, and Portinari’s blue eyes, brim- ming with unfalling tears, seemed to speak of his immortal work. Maria didn’t leave us much time to talk; he was not to be upset. I wanted to run after him and say, You have alrea- dy given us so much. You have already given us the greatest work a painter can give his people; we already have such timeless treasures; you can rest without worrying that you are no longer painting. They were already far off, and the words died in my thoughts.
Only after Portinari died did I visit the UN and see, at the awe-inspiring apogee of his art, the War and Peace panels. Each figure appeared faceted - a gem or star lit from within -, and I wanted to tell all those people passing through the hall, men and women from all corners of the globe: Just look at our glory. That panel is by our greatest painter. I was born in Brazil like him, Portinari...'
Dinah Silveira de Queiroz
Writer
In: Museu Nacional de Belas Artes (Rio de Janeiro, RJ); Museu de Arte de São Paulo (São Paulo, SP). Portinari Desenhista. Apres. Ralph Camargo; texto Afonso Arinos et al. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1977. 264 p. il. [catálogo]
