Timeline : Timeline: Candido Portinari

You can find out more about the painter's life and work by consulting the books recommended in The Artist > Bibliography.

1903

Candido Portinari is born on December 30, 1903 on a coffee farm (Fazenda Santa Rosa) near the town of Brodowski in the state of São Paulo, at the time a village with around 700 residents. He is the second of 12 children born to Italians Baptista Portinari and Dominga Torquato, who both came to Brazil from Italy’s Veneto region at the end of the 19th century, when the coffee culture was in expansion.

<html><body><p>Portinari com seus pais e irmãos. Ele é o 1º em pé, à direita.</p></body></html> — Retrato da família Portinari 1924

1906

Baptista and Dominga leave the farm and become trades people in Brodowski, a stop where trains picked up coffee and migrants passed in search of work.

<html><body><p>Fachada da residência dos Portinari.</p></body></html> — Residência da família Portinari 1962

1911

Portinari goes to school in Brodowski, probably between 1911 and 1916, going no further than the third grade.

<html><body><p>Portinari junto com seus colegas e professor da Escola Primária, João Daiuto. Portinari é o primeiro em pé, à direita.</p></body></html> — Portinari no Grupo Escolar 1915

1914

At age 10, Portinari makes Portrait of Carlos Gomes, his first drawing for which there is documentation.

Composition in black and white. Contour lines and shading. Portrait of Carlos Gomes's bust, set in a circle. The depicted faces 3/4 to right, has a long face, full head of hair combed back, broad forehead, well-marked eyebrows, small, almond-shaped eyes looking right, small, slightly upturned nose, huge mustaches that make up the on the left a comma, upper lip covered by whiskers and large, prominent chin. He wears a coat and shirt closed at the collar, with the buttons implied and wires serving as a tie. We can see everything on the left shoulder and to the right cut by the circumference where the picture is inserted. On the outsie, from the support corners, four diagonal lines, which end at the edge of the circle. — Portrait of Carlos Gomes 1914

1918

A group of Italian painters and sculptors visited Brodowski as they travelled around doing the decorative artwork of small town churches. Candido is called to help, together with his childhood friend Modesto Giordano, who says:

"He (Portinari) stayed there working. Early in the day he was the first to arrive [...] he barely went home to eat [...]. [He was] all he wanted was to learn the art of painting."

<html><body><p>Igreja Matriz de Brodowski onde Portinari, com quinze anos de idade, auxiliou pintores italianos na pintura de estrelinhas do altar.</p></body></html> — Igreja Matriz 1918

Video 'Beginning of Candido Portinari's career':

1919

Candido Portinari moves to Rio de Janeiro with the Toledo family, friends of the Portinari family and owners of a boarding house at Avenida Passos, No. 44. Portinari lives there, doing odd jobs. In the capital, he enrolls in the Lyceum of Arts and Trades.

<html><body><p>Candido Portinari com cerca de 17 anos.</p></body></html> — Portinari jovem 1920

1920

Portinari enrolls as a non-degree student at the National School of Fine Arts (ENBA), regularly attending figure drawing classes. He finds a tense and contradictory environment with strict rules.

<html><body><p>Grupo de alunos e professores em um evento na Escola Nacional de Belas Artes.</p></body></html> — Escola Nacional de Belas Artes 1920

1921

He moved to a boarding house at 23 Marquesa de Santos Street and continued his training at ENBA with Professors Lucílio de Albuquerque, Rodolfo Amoedo, Rodolfo Chambelland and Baptista da Costa, among others.

1922

Throughout his time at National School of Fine Arts, he took part in its General Exhibitions, the so-called annual 'salons', the top prize of which was the coveted study trip to Europe. In November Portinari shows his work for the first time and receives an Honorable Mention for a portrait, probably of his friend Ezequiel Fonseca Filho.

<html><body><p>Portinari entre colegas e professores da Escola Nacional de Belas Artes. Entre eles: Gastão Formenti, Vicente Leite, Rodolpho Amoedo, Manoel Faria, Hélios Seelinger e Jordão de Oliveira.</p></body></html> — Portinari na ENBA 1922

1923

He attends Professor Baptista da Costa's painting classes at National School of Fine Arts. In August, his portrait was awarded a Bronze Medal, a cash prize and the Galeria Jorge Prize at the Salon. His name began to be mentioned in the press. He gets a new job painting the signs of a bookshop.

1924

Portinari submits to the selection panel of the National School of Fine Arts Salon seven portraits and Country Dance, his first work with a Brazilian theme, painted during his summer vacation in Brodowski. The portraits are accepted, but Country Dance is not.

Country Dance 1923

1925

In May 1925, Portinari, then 21, took part in the IIII Salão da Primavera with two portraits and gave his first interview, published in the Jornal do Brasil on May 6, entitled "Words from a young portrait painter from Brazil". Here's what he says: "The target of my painting is feeling. For me, technique is merely a means. But an indispensable means". In August, at the XXXII General Exhibition of Fine Arts, he wins the Small Silver Medal, which qualifies him to compete for the Travel Prize.

1926

In August, he took part in the ENBA Salon with two portraits, competing for the first time for the Travel Prize to Europe. He didn't achieve this goal, but he did win the Jorge Gallery Prize and a cash prize. In an interview, he criticizes the 'false modernists', those who, in his view, are "those who have not studied the essence and the academic process, and rebel against it because it presents difficulties, and not because it is an expression of old age or tiredness". In another interview, he addresses the issue of national art: "Brazilian art will only exist when our artists completely abandon useless traditions and give themselves, with all their soul, to the sincere interpretation of our environment."

1927

In August, he presented three portraits at the ENBA Salon, again competing for the Travel Prize. He was awarded the Grand Silver Medal.

1928

A pivotal year in Portinari’s artistic development. The painter presents 12 works to the XXXV General Exhibition of Fine Arts and wins the European Travel Prize with Portrait of Olegário Mariano. The press notes the artist’s win.

Composition in black tones, ochre, rose, yellow, gray, earthy and lilac. Smooth texture. Portrait Olegário Mariano, standing, occupying almost the entire area of the composition against ochre background. The picture is cut off at the middle of the legs. The body has portrayed 3/4 back to the left and head almost in front; oval face, dark hair combed back with fallen part on the left side of the forehead is wide, straight eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes facing forward, sharp nose, thin lips and closed, long chin, straight to the pit in the center. Fardão wears of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, dark, collar standing at the suggestion chest acanthus leaves. Arm bent on the right holding hat with white plume against the body, slightly bent on the left arm with hand in his pants pocket, seeing up close sword attached to his waist. At the upper right corner, a shield with weapons. Fund ochre, light on the left, darkening to the right. — Portrait of Olegário Mariano 1928

1929

Portinari has his first solo exhibition, with 25 portraits, at the Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, an initiative of the Brazilian Artists Association, headed by Celso Kelly. He sails for Europe on the Brazilian ship Bagé.

<html><body><p>Portinari com a sra. João Castro e Silva e Campos de Oliveira, a bordo do navio com destino à Europa, como prêmio de viagem.</p></body></html> — Viagem à Europa 1929

In Paris, he stays temporarily in Montparnasse, a haven for artists of the period. He soon moves to the Hôtel du Dragon and begins his study program. He decides not to attend the Académie Julien, as did most ENBA prize winners.

1930

Portinari wrote to Rosalita Mendes de Almeida, a colleague at ENBA. It's the letter from Palaninho (CO-4545.1), a true declaration of intent, in which the Brazil that moved Portinari and that he intended to portray on his return appears in all its strength: "Palaninho is from my land, he's from Brodósqui!" he announces, giving a detailed, plastic and moving description of Palaninho and his family, simple people, typical of the countryside:

"…Palaninho is from my land, from Brodowski. …I came here to get to know Palaninho, after having seen so many museums and castles and civilized people… There in Brazil I never used to think about Palaninho… From here I could see my own land more clearly – I could see Brodowski as it is. Here I have no urge to do anything… I’m going to paint Palaninho, I’m going to paint those people with those clothes and that coloring..."

He participates in the group exhibition of Brazilian art in Paris - Exposition d’Art Brésilien, in the Foyer Brésilien, entering two works: a portrait and a still life. He meets Maria Victoria Martinelli, a nineteen year old Uruguayan living with her family in Paris, who will become his lifelong companion.

1931

The couple returns to Brazil. Candido Portinari brings six works in his luggage: three still lifes, a nude, a self-portrait and a small portrait of Maria. Once back, he resumes prolific painting in order to support the couple.

<html><body><p>O casal Portinari no ateliê da Lapa, na Rua Teotônio Regadas, vendo-se no cavalete o retrato do casal feito por Foujita.</p></body></html> — O casal Portinari 1932

1932

Portinari presents over 60 works in a solo exhibition at the Palace Hotel promoted by the Brazilian Artists Association. For the first time the artist shows paintings with Brazilian themes, primarily scenes of childhood, the circus and circle games.

Composition in light shades of blue and ochre and earthy tones, green, black and red. Smooth texture, tepresenting armed circus in the Brodowski Square and boys group watching a clown riding on donkey. In the foreground, on the left, gray donkey profiled to the left, mounted by a clown facing back and appearing to be playing with a group of children who are following. The clown wears pointy hat and light clothing, is smiling and has his arms stretched forward. He is turned back, looking to the right group of children from the direction of the composition, who look like they are following him. They have outlined facial features and wear shorts, except for one, who has brimmed hat and whose pants have one short leg and one long. In the background, to the left of center, armed circus with a row of colorful flags decorating it and the door to the center. Further in the background, on the right of the composition, warehouse with two doors indicated. The ground is flat and smooth, represented in light tones, and we see, in the foreground, suggestion of a bush and some simple flowers. In the background, fine line marking the horizon. — Circus 1932

Circus 1932

Composition in blue tones, green, ochre, earthy, yellow, red, rose, white and black. Smooth and rough texture, some marked brushstrokes. Houses, trees and convent of Santa Teresa neighborhood. In the foreground on the left, representing roofs of three houses arranged in a pyramidal shape. The wide roof is more flat bottom, while the lowest is higher up and further back. Near this, narrow and tall building with roof and two windows, suggests a well to lift the type used by inclined planes. On the right, large townhouse with roof tiles type channel-seven windows arranged non-regularly or symmetrically. At the back of this townhouse, yard with high tree and leafy suggestion and two poles with hanging clothes. Delimiting the yard and the inclined plane, wall stretching from the left to the right. In the background, a small house on the left, light poles near the wall to the center and on the right and large convent in higher plane on small hill. Convent represented in diagonal perspective: Front on the right and on the left side extending to the bottom of the composition. The side of the convent module consists - which is repeated three and a half times - three small clerestory windows side by side and another opening at the bottom. On the facade there is the central nave, higher, and the chapel, near which, on the right, there is a green tree. Blue sky. — Convent of Saint Teresa 1932

<html><body><p>Noticia a inauguração da exposição de Portinari, no Palace Hotel.</p></body></html> — A nova exposição de Candido Portinari 1932-08-14

1933

Portinari and Maria moved into an apartment in the Laranjeiras neighborhood, at 143 Rua Pires de Almeida. Mário de Andrade commented that this absence of social art among us is a sensitive flaw and art historian Annateresa Fabris, in her thesis "Portinari, social painter", commented: "social concerns began to take shape among the modernists". This concern seems to anticipate the role that Portinari would play from that moment on. In July, Portinari exhibited again at the Palace Hotel and, in November, he sent six works to the 2nd Modern Art Exhibition of SPAM (Sociedade Pró-Arte Moderna), in São Paulo.

1934

Portinari paints The Evicted, his first work with a social theme. The painting Mestizo is purchased by the São Paulo State Pinacoteca, the first public institution to include a work by Portinari in its collection.

The Evicted 1934

Composition in earthy, blue, ochre, black, purple, green and gray tones. Smooth texture and brushstrokes in small commas. Composition representing half-length mulatto, occupying almost the entire support area against field landscape background. The figure is facing forward, turned slightly to the right, has dark skin, oval face, dark curly hair divided to the left, narrow forehead, thick eyebrows, large eyes set wide apart, looking forward, nubin nose, exaggerated thick lips and rounded chin. His chest is bare and we see developed muscles; the right arm is crossed over the left one; right hand is not visible and on the left we see four thick fingers that reveal a strong worker's hand. In the background, landscape with hill and on the left, flat terrain in perspective to the horizon line with a banana plantation surrounded by brick wall and small construction to the right; in the center, rammed earth with small stones scattered, some fence posts and wire, behind which we see a plantation on the left. Clear sky with some plump clouds. — Mestizo Man 1934

1935

At the invitation of Celso Kelly he is hired to teach mural and easel painting at the Art Institute of the Federal District University (UDF) in Rio de Janeiro. His painting Coffee enters the Carnegie Institute exhibition in Pittsburgh and wins Second Honorable Mention.

Coffee 1935

1936

In January, the first exhibition of Portinari's work by UDF students was held at the Palace Hotel. The artist created four large panels for the Highway Monument on the Presidente Dutra highway, which connects Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo.

Panels ordered for Portinari by engineer Iedo Fiúza, director of the National Highway Department (DNER) of the Vargas government, to decorate the Road Monument, located on Rodovia Presidente Dutra (Estrada Rio-São Paulo) in Serra das Araras, Piraí, RJ .

The works were transferred to the National Museum of Fine Arts in 2000, after a campaign that warned about the precarious conservation of the works. The Road Monument was deactivated and had been closed since 1978, without any security or maintenance system to preserve the space and works of art.

Regarding the works, Antonio Bento made the following analysis "They are realistic works, painted in oil on canvas. They even seem to be made on photographs, as did the pop-art artists and later the hyper-realists. There are few figures of workers. But they are already works that reveal a new vision of the Brazilian landscape. They also have a chronological connotation, probably resulting from the adopted theme. They were, above all, the first large-scale works made by the painter" (Antonio Bento, in Portinari, 2003)

The monument:
Designed by architect Raphael Galvão, with the participation of engineer Chagas Dória, it was executed by Construtora Christian Nielsen.
The Touring Club of Brazil was responsible for the construction of the Monument between 1928 and 1930, when the work was paralyzed due to political problems. Construction resumed in 1936, by the Federal Highway Commission.

Inaugurated on May 13, 1938, the Monument was managed by Touring until 1953, when control was passed to the DNER, currently DNIT (National Department of Transport Infrastructure).

Functioning as a viewpoint for the beautiful landscape of the place, the monument provided rest for travelers, with a leisure area and a large restaurant.
On the external walls there are eight bas-relief panels by Albert Freyhoffer. — Building the Highway - Panels for the Highway Monument 1936

<html><body><p>Interior do Monumento Rodoviário na Rodovia Presidente Dutra, onde foram instalados originalmente os painéis de Portinari.</p></body></html> — Painel no Monumento Rodoviário 1940

1937

He decides to do the murals for the Ministry of Education and Health in fresco, a technique that was still pioneering in Brazil. Portinari sends 25 works to the 1st May Salon in São Paulo.

1938

Portinari makes hundreds of studies in charcoal, crayon, tempera, gouache and watercolor for the execution of 12 fresco murals for the Ministry of Education, now the Gustavo Capanema Palace, Rio de Janeiro.

Worker 1938

1939

On January 20, President Getúlio Vargas decrees that the UDF is to close, consequently ending Portinari’s teaching career. His son João Candido is born. Portinari paints the panels Northeastern Rafts, Gaúcha Scene and Night of Saint John for the New York World's Fair Brazilian Pavilion, with architectural design by Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. The largest Portinari exhibition, with 269 works, opens at the National Museum of Fine Arts. Manuel Bandeira and Mário de Andrade write the catalogue preface.

<html><body><p>Portinari com João Candido, ainda bebê.</p></body></html> — Portinari pai 1939

Three panels (Cena Gaúcha, Jangadas do Nordeste and Noite de São João) commissioned to decorate the Hall of Honor of the Brazilian Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Pavilion Design: Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. The hall was called Good Neighbor Hall in honor of the good neighbor policy maintained between the two countries. FCO-4082 was donated to the Museum of Modern Art in New York /MOMA - New York - USA and was destroyed in a fire in 1958. — Panels for the New York World's Fair 1939

1940

He enters 35 works in the Latin American Exhibition of Fine Arts (Mostra Latino-Americana de Arte) at the Riverside Museum in New York. The exhibition Portinari of Brazil, with approximately 180 works, is held at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and subsequently tours a number of cities in the United States.

<html><body><p>Painel de apresentação da exposição de Portinari no Museu de Arte Moderna de Nova York.</p></body></html> — Exposição Portinari no MoMA 1940

1941

The University of Chicago publishes the book Portinari, His Life and Art. 1941 Portinari paints Nonna’s Little Chapel for his grandmother Pellegrina in a room in the family home in Brodowski. The life-size saints that adorn the walls depict people in the artist’s family. An exhibition opens at the Howard University Gallery of Art in Washington.

Composition in earthy, ochre, blue, green, rose, yellow, red, gray, violet, orange, white, black, purple and gold tones. Smooth and rough texture resulting of the support. Altarpiece occupying the entire wall of the chapel. In the center of the composition, round window and a tabernacle, flanked by Saint Luzia and Saint Peter with their entire body represented. The background of the composition is decorated with small stars, crowns of thorns, strings and various inscriptions. A little below the middle of the composition, at the center, concrete slab on the balance sheet serving as altar and side angles, two masonry protuberances, suggesting high benches decorated with flower pots. From the left to the right, we see: along the left side edge, red square with three arrows and the inscription "INRI"; slightly sinuous rope knotted at the top end inserted in rose and red rectangle. More to the right, beginning of the area in earthy tone dotted with small yellow stars that stop at the bottom of a rectangle in ochre and orange with the inscription "SAVE". We see below a checkered area of brown and red ochre in which thorn crowns are inserted in the dark squares. To the left center of the composition, dark blue rectangle ending in a bow at the top, bounded by line in rose tone inside which is Saint Luzia, standing, facing her head 3/4 to the left. She has very light skin, black, long, wavy hair falling i front of the shoulders; broad forehead, large almond-shaped eyes looking left, delicate nose and well-delineated lips. She wears a purple tunic emblazoned with small stars, blue belt and red band fallen to the right. Over the dress we see a white tunic with yellow inside. Left arm along the body with the hand grasings a palm branch, and bent right hand almost at the left shoulder which supports a small tray where two eyes are resting. Legs slightly apart and bare feet. In the center of the composition near the upper edge is the inscription "CHRIST" Below, square green-hued area where a round corrugated-glass window is closed; just above the slab, serving altar, tabernacle in painted blue and gold wood with central door, above which we see a small square in blue tone, and inside, the representation of a cross. To the right of the center of the composition, dark blue rectangle ending in a bow at the top and delimited by a shade of rose, inside of which is Saint Peter, standing with head turned 3/4 to the left. He has gray hair, broad and wrinkled forehead, sunken eyes turned to the left, hooked nose and closed lips perceived through the gray mustache and beard. He wears a white tunic with red sash at the waist looking to the left piece of string on the end of which two keys hang. His arms are bent with hands placed on the chest, legs apart and bare feet. Further to the right, continuation of the area in earthy tone dotted with small yellow stars that stop at the bottom of a rectangle in ochre and orange with the inscription "+US+" with checkered area of earthy and red ochre below, in which the dark squared crowns of thorns are inserted. On the right side edge, a red square with a heart with the inscription "J M C S" and slightly sinuous rope with the upper end knotted, set inside a rose and red rectangle. The side projections are decorated on their front with flower pots. The two vessels are oval and carry branches of daisies, roses and carnations. It is suggested they are resting on area of dar earthy tone, serving astailpiece - a wide baseboard for- the entire bottom edge of the composition. Below the altar slab and feet of the saints, rose tone rectangle suggesting to be painted later that the dark dotted area of daisies that surrounds it. — Saint Lucy and Saint Peter 1941

1942

His murals are inaugurated in the Hispanic Foundation of the Library of Congress in Washington. The panels have a Latin American historical theme.

<html><body><p>Portinari pintando os murais na Biblioteca do Congresso.</p></body></html> — Portinari na Biblioteca do Congresso 1942-01-05

1943

A solo Portinari exhibition of 168 works opens at the National Museum of Fine Arts. The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas, by Machado de Assis, is the first book published by the Society of One Hundred Bibliophiles of Brazil and features illustrations by Candido Portinari.

<html><body><p>Exposição Portinari no Museu Nacional de Belas Artes MNBA.</p></body></html> — Exposição Portinari no Museu Nacional de Belas Artes 1943-06

1944

Portinari enters an exhibition commemorating the 15 year anniversary of MoMA – Art in Progress, with the works Scarecrow and Settlers Carrying Coffee. Portinari paints the panels in the Migrants Series. The Pampulha architectural complex in Belo Horizonte is completed. Then Mayor Juscelino Kubitschek had commissioned Oscar Niemeyer to design it, including the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi for which Candido Portinari did the decorative artwork, with exterior tiles and a mural painting on the interior.

In 1944 he began painting the panels that make up the Retirantes Series. The works Enterro na Rede, Criança Morta and Retirantes were donated to the São Paulo Museum of Art by Assis Chateaubriand and the work Criança Morta (1945) was acquired by the French Government in 1947 and is currently at the Fond National de Art Contemporain. — Migrants Series 1944

Saint Francis of Assisi 1944

1945

Portinari’s growing political concern inspires him to run for a seat in the house of representatives. His platform argues for constituent power founded on popular support for culture, organized labor among the peasantry, a stance against exaggerated prices, inflation, landlordism and fundamentalism.

<html><body><p>Portinari pintando a obra "Retirantes".</p></body></html> — Portinari e sua obra 1945

<html><body><p>Anuncia o ingresso de Portinari no Partido Comunista Brasileiro e sua inclusão na chapa de deputados por São Paulo. Argumentando que "só no Brasil, Portinari ainda é um estrangeiro", fornece informações de seu sucesso no exterior, traça breve biografia e comenta obras onde se vê um retrato social do Brasil.</p></body></html> — O pintor e militante comunista Portinari candidato a deputado federal [...] por São Paulo na chapa do P.C.B. 1945

1946

The Charpentier Gallery in Paris inaugurates a Portinari exhibition with 84 works. The French government inducts Candido Portinari into the Legion of Honor.

<html><body><p>Portinari com visitantes na exposição da Galeria Charpentier.</p></body></html> — Exposição Portinari na Galeria Charpentier 1946

<html><body><p>Comenta o sucesso da exposição de Portinari, em Paris, para informar que o pintor brasileiro foi condecorado com a Grande Cruz da Legião de Honra da França.</p></body></html> — Candido Portinari condecorado com a Legião de Honra 1946-10-22

1947

He runs as a Communist Party of Brazil candidate for the Senate but loses by a narrow margin. His first solo exhibition in Argentina opens at the Salón Peuser, in Buenos Aires, with 91 works. The administration of President Eurico Dutra intensifies its persecution of Communists. In November, Portinari goes into voluntary exile in Uruguay. In December, the Portinari family joins the artist.

<html><body><p>Rua pintada com propaganda eleitoral de Portinari, candidato ao Senado, pelo Partido Comunista.</p></body></html> — Propaganda política 1947

1948

In the Teatro Solis, in Montevideo, the panel The First Mass in Brazil is shown; it was painted for the new headquarters of Banco Boavista, in Rio de Janeiro. Portinari returns to Brazil and in December has a retrospective exhibition at São Paulo’s MASP.

The First Mass in Brazil 1948

<html><body><p>Portinari entre visitantes na sua exposição, no Museu de Arte de São Paulo MASP</p></body></html> — Exposição Portinari no Museu de Arte de São Paulo 1948-12

1949

Portinari executes the Tiradentes panel for the Cataguases School in Minas Gerais. He is invited to participate in the Scientific and Cultural Conference for World Peace in New York, but the U.S. Ambassador denies his visa to enter the country. Portinari is summoned to appear before the Central Police authorities to provide explanations regarding his role with the University of the People.

Composition in blue, violet, lilac, gray, white, earthy, ochre, rose, yellow, green, red, black and orange tones. Smooth texture. Elements of the composition constructed by overlapping and juxtapositions of colored geometric shapes, regular and irregular. Misshapen stains of color, transparencies contrasting with compact colored and opaque areas, bright light even in the darkest areas characterizes the composition. At some points, the light tones, carefully distributed, alleviate the weight of dark shades. In others, the light shades are used in striking contrast to the dark. Additional features: verticality obtained by standing figures, arranged side by side, forming blocks; distributed poles; division of the three screens; vertical color areas. Absence of contour lines and movement, with static pictures arranged in groups that make up forms. The subject of the development is carried visually in the same spatial plane, with temporal and spatial scenes taking place at distinct times and places; it is all represented side by side. Narrative and didactic composition. In addition to knowledge of historical fact, which makes it possible to identify the scenes as distinct and temporal succession, there is the sharply diagonal composition of each of them and the colors change from one scene to the other. First scene: the conspirators plotting and chained women symbolizing the Brazilian nation under the reign of the metropolis. At the center, a group of men standing and facing forward, we see the whole body of the two in front and, behind them, four faces with defined facial features. The first on the left is Tiradentes, represented with the lieutenant's uniform of the 6th Dragoon Regiment of Vila Rica. He has no beard and no mustache, hair up and hands on the waist holding a thick chain. To the right is José Álvares Maciel reading a book held in front of his face. The group forms a triangular area whose upper vortex is formed by the heads of the other components. To the left of the group, cut at the side edge of the support, group of women standing, facing right, looking up. Two are represented in whole body facing forward, hands on face and hair forward, wth a chain hanging from hands of one of them. Of the other group members, we see only the heads. Following the diagonal line that delineates the first scene, another group of chained women with hands on faces and long hair hanging forward. Beside them, four black children, also wrapped in chains and a small chest t on the ground. Behind the first two groups, three high poles and representation of mountains in the background. Second scene: it separates the previous scenes by pointing diagonally to the left, this scene is the reading of the sentence of the conspirators. The conspirators group is concentrated on the left, with facial features slightly indicated, heads and bright faces in light shades of rose, blue, yellow and green. Ahead of the old group is Rezende Costa, chained, head down, held by his son, who holds him. In the center, Tiradentes with mustache, beard and long hair, violet shirt, dark-colored pants and boots. Standing with arms crossed, face lit on the right and dark on the left, head turned 3/4 to the right, toward group composed of bailiffs, headed by Judge Francisco Luiz Alves da Rocha, represented by the first figure of the group, almost back, in tails and holding in his hands a paper with the court's ruling. This scene takes place in the chapel room of the chain, whose walls are represented by geometrical colored shapes. That's the only scene with no poles represented. Third scene is the hanging of Tiradentes in the Field of Saint Domingo on April 21st, 1792. Serving as background for the scene the body of Tiradentes hanging on the gallows, mounted on high quadrangular gallows, with stairs on the right. Around the jib, regiment forming triangular area, with the figures that make up the base of the front triangle wearing the Moura regiment uniform. Representation of different groups attending the hanging: the bottom, forming a human wall, is a crowd represented in bright shades of rose, blue, green, gray and white; on the left, in front, a group of people standing, wearing costumes of the nobility of the time, with two thirds of this group in the shade, indicated by two triangles in dark tones and the remaining group under triangularly-lit area, with some emphasis on heads, one facing the gallows and the other looking back. To the right of this group, two women kneeling in front: one crying, hands on face and hair hanging forward and the other looking to comfort her. Behind the women, group of men standing back, facing the gallows, also wearing noble costumes. Fourth scene represents the quartering of Tiradentes and is separated from the previous scenes by diagonal dial to the right. In the center foreground, the dismembered body of Tiradentes, held by thick rope to a pole stuck in dais. The head is on the dais, facing below the spoils and blood stains around it. Around the dais, figures of people with expressive face, alternating in areas of light and shadow. On the second and third planes, on the left and on the right groups of people who build areas in rose and blue and on the left areas in blue and, on the right, in white. High poles scattered among the crowd and mountains in the background. Fifth scene: shows the distribution of Tiradentes quarters. Amid the representation of the hilly landscape of Minas, four poles arranged in front of the diagonal to the bottom and from the left to the right, with the body parts of the martyr nailed on top. Compounding the rest of the scene: geometrized floor in bright color, with stylized vegetation; five vultures on wooden log and three other resting on the ground; dispossessed group between the second and third poles and further back, smaller group of people, only indicated. Sixth scene is the emancipation of the Brazilian nation, through the group of women raising broken chains. To the left of center of the scene is a high pole, on which there is a niche with the head of Tiradentes. To the left of the pole, a group of five people embraced, conveying pain, lead a woman sitting with a child on her lap. Behind the pole, a group of people only outlined make up an area in blue. On the far right of the composition, a group of women standing and facing with heads represented like the personification of freedom; the figure in front has arms raised, suggesting to have broken a chain whose links fall to the ground, symbolizing the motto "Freedom, even late." — Tiradentes 1949

1950

Portinari visits for the first time Chiampo, his father’s home city in the Veneto region. He receives the Gold Medal of Peace from the II World Congress of Defenders of Peace, in Warsaw, for the panel Tiradentes.

<html><body><p>Portinari com um grupo de familiares italianos.</p></body></html> — Viagem à Itália 1950

1951

Portinari enters the I Biennial of São Paulo.

<html><body><p>Focaliza a I Bienal de São Paulo, observando que esta mostra convenceu-o "de que a arte abstrata é, na realidade, o movimento mais fecundo e mais vivo do nosso tempo". Tece considerações sobre os diversos caminhos que levam àquela arte.</p></body></html> — A I Bienal de São Paulo 1951-10-28

1952

Portinari makes the panel The Arrival of D. João VI in Bahia, commissioned by Banco da Bahia. The United Nations secretary-general announces that the Brazilian government has offered two panels (War and Peace), to be made by Portinari, to decorate one of the halls of the UN’s new headquarters building.

Composition in red, ochre, yellow, green, earthy, blue, orange, white, gray, violet, lilac and black tone. Smooth texture is prevalent, but thick in the most prominent figures. It depicts the arrival of King John VI to Bahia, represented by various groups of people - formed as if in a great parade interspersed with poles with flags and banners, against the background of a port, caravels ,the sea, hill with vegetation, church and houses. The groups of people, all standing, form columns and diagonals, cutting in vertically different directions composition. The entire area where the figures are is geometrized - not only on the ground but in the bodies of the characters, giving light and shadow effects. Each group of extras in the foreground is leading a column of people in perspective toward the background or sideways. In the foreground, from the left to the right: a Bahian woman facing forward with her right hand holding a rectangular board that she carries on her head; two men looking back, side to side, 3/4 facing right, with blond and long hair tied at the nape, wearing doublet; Dom João facing forward, head turned to the left, right arm along the body and left bent at the waist holding a paper tube in hand. He wears a hat shaped like a half-moon, yellow jacket with epaulets, blue knee-length pants, stockings and court shoes; Dona Charlotte Joaquina, holding arms with Dom João also facing forward, with the head toward to the right, white hair combed back, wearing white gown; slightly behind, Dona Carlota, facing the representation of Dom Pedro I as a child wearing red suit with white collar; behind the boy, Dona Teresa Cristina looking to the right, wearing green clothes and neck-high collar; a little apart and looking in the direction of the Portuguese family, two figures, one after the other, 3/4 directed to the left: the first, possibly the governor of the province at the time, has white hair tied back and wears orange jerkin; the other, possibly the Bishop of Salvador, wears a red and skullcap mantle; to the right end, the representation of the Viscount of Cairu, with his head turned to the left, holding the hand of a girl who also looks toward the family and wears long dress with ruffled collar and cuffs; by the Viscount's side , a man standing, looking in the same direction as the others, white and long hair, wearing jacket with epaulets and red socks. Among the shoulders of these figures, one sees two faces and part of the body of a third woman, looking to the royal family. On the left half of the composition, based on the Bahia foreground, a group of people directed to the right; more to the bottom, the group headed by the English family, forming a single column in perspective to the sea and making a angle to the left, at the height of the dock. To the right half of the composition, beginning in the background, a line formed by soldiers of the military police, standing diagonally from the right to the left and front to back. Among the group of people on the left half and this wing of soldiers, six tall poles with flags on the ends. Behind the soldiers, forming another wing in the same position, the cavalry police. Both foot soldiers and mounted police wear hats that resemble those of bandits and have defined facial features: the first are represented in red, including the face, and the other in ochre, including the horses. Behind the cavalry, a multitude of representation with big set figures, according to the same perspective as the sea. In the third level, behind the crowd, on the right in the center of the composition, the facade of Conceição da Praia Church and next to this, two identical colonial buildings: three floors and no roof. On the hill behind the church, a block of irregular buildings, a few scattered houses and vegetation. The contour of the foot of the hill can be determined by tripping behind the cavalry and occupies 2/3 of the width of the third plane of composition. On the far right of the support, led by the Viscount of Cairu in the foreground, another column of people, forming a slight diagonal from the left to the right and front to back. This group comes out of a high arch topped by a flag four corners, and some of them carry banners. On the far left and cut by the edge of the composition, two caravels docked with full sail and blue flags. Bordering the pier, a row of poles with flags on top. In the background, the sea, three ships facing front, with full sail, placed diagonally to the right and from front to back. Ahead, a small ship to the side and further back, three other smaller vessels. On the horizon, representation of slight elevations. Clear blue sky with a big cloud in the center. — The Arrival of Dom João VI to Bahia 1952

1953

He is hospitalized in Rio de Janeiro after suffering intestinal hemorrhaging. The diagnosis indicates problems have arisen from the use of paints containing heavy metals like lead, cadmium and silver. After ten years without a solo exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, Portinari opens an exhibition of 100 works at the Museum of Modern Art (MAM).

<html><body><p>Presenças na exposição de Portinari, no Museu de Arte Moderna.</p></body></html> — Exposição Portinari no MAM-RJ 1953-04

1954

A solo exhibition opens at the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) with over 100 works, among them two models for the War and Peace panels, a gift from the Brazilian government for the UN headquarters in New York. Medical orders put a halt to Portinari’s painting for some time. Lead in the paints is causing his illness. "I am forbidden to live", says Portinari.

<html><body><p>Exposição Portinari no Museu de Arte de São Paulo.</p></body></html> — Exposição Portinari no MASP 1954-02

1955

An agreement is signed between Portinari and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the artist to make the War and Peace panels, whose studies are already well underway. Portinari has a special room, hors concours, at the III Biennial of São Paulo, entering 12 large sized studies for the War panel. The International Fine Arts Council (IFAC) of New York awards Portinari a Gold Medal for best painter of the year.

<html><body><p>Portinari pintando o painel "Paz", no galpão da TV Tupi.</p></body></html> — Portinari pintando os painéis para a ONU 1955

1956

Portinari delivers War and Peace. The panels, measuring 14m x 10m each, were made in oil on ship plywood over a period of nine months, with assistance from Enrico Bianco and Rosalina Leão. Before they go to the UN headquarters in Nova York, Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek inaugurates an exhibition of the panels at the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro. For the first and only time Portinari saw War and Peace mounted. At the exhibition opening, President Kubitschek gives Portinari the Gold Medal he received from the International Fine Arts Council in 1955. Portinari makes the D. Quixote Series, comprised of 22 colored pencil drawings and commissioned by José Olympio publishing house to illustrate the poems by Carlos Drummond de Andrade.

<html><body><p>O presidente Juscelino Kubitschek e sra., junto com Portinari, na inauguração da exposição dos painéis da ONU.</p></body></html> — O presidente JK na mostra dos painéis da ONU 1956-03

Resultado da tradução
Drawings commissioned by José Olympio in 1953 to illustrate the book "D. Quixote", but whose edition was not carried out (see CO-3741, 3742, 3749). Published in 1973-4 in the book "D. Quixote: Cervantes, Portinari, Drummond / 21 drawings by Candido Portinari; glosses by Carlos Drummond de Andrade. — D. Quixote Series 1956

1957

Portinari has a solo exhibition at the Maison de la Pensée Française, in Paris, sponsored by the Brazilian Embassy. The exhibition then goes to Munich and Cologne, in Germany. The War and Peace panels are given to the UN in an official ceremony. Portinari is not invited to attend the ceremony due to his involvement with the Communist Party and is represented by Ambassador Cyro de Freitas-Valle. Launching his literary pursuits, Portinari begins to write Retalhos de minha vida de infância [Fragments from my Childhood].

<html><body><p>Presenças na inauguração dos painéis "Guerra" e "Paz", na ONU.</p></body></html> — Painéis de Portinari na ONU 1957-09

Retalhos de minha vida de infância: [Poemas: quarenta e cinco] 1957-11-29

1958

Portinari’s first solo exhibition in his parents’ home country opens, at the Galleria del Libraio in Bologna, Italy. The artist is summoned to appear before the National Security Council, along with Oscar Niemeyer, Arnaldo Estrela, Dalcídio Jurandir and others for their work with the School of the People.

<html><body><p>Portinari abraçado com um menino, em recepção oferecida ao Ministro inglês Sir David Eccles, na sede da revista "O Cruzeiro".</p></body></html> — Reunião Social 1958-06

<html><body><p>Noticia a inauguração de uma nova galeria de arte, com uma exposição de têmperas e desenhos de Candido Portinari, realizados em sua recente viagem à Israel.</p></body></html> — Candido Portinari alla galleria del Libraio 1958-02-09

1959

The travelling exhibition Brazilian Artists in Europe begins, organized by the Rio de Janeiro Museum of Modern Art. He does the illustrations for the book Plantation Boy, by José Lins do Rego, published by the Society of One Hundred Bibliophiles of Brazil. The V Biennial of São Paulo has a retrospective of Portinari’s work with 127 pieces.

Boys on Horseback 1959

<html><body><p>Noticia a exposição de arte contemporânea brasileira, que o MAM-RJ organizou para levar à Europa, citando cidades em que deverá ser exibida.</p></body></html> — Primeira exposição coletiva de artistas brasileiros na Europa: 280 peças de arte 1959-03-19

1960

Denise is born, Candido Portinari’s granddaughter. On this day Portinari writes:

"My granddaughter will free me from loneliness."

The artist will go on to depict his granddaughter in poetry and painting. In Italy the book is published called Brasil, dipinti di Portinari (Brazil, Painting by Portinari).

Denise with Bird 1960

1961

On a trip to France, the French government prevents him from entering the country. Negotiations finally yield a 60 day visa with the condition that he not make any political statements. He returns to Brazil with waning health. He has the last solo exhibition of his life, at the Bonino Gallery in Rio de Janeiro. Portinari makes three tile panels: Frevo and Fish, for the Pampulha Yacht Club, designed by Oscar Niemeyer, and Doves, for a building in Paris.

Fish 1961

<html><body><p>Trata da exposição de Portinari na Galeria Bonino, citando as obras expostas.</p></body></html> — Portinari na Galeria Bonino 1960-07-07

1962

Portinari dies on February 6, poisoned by the heavy metals in his paints. The memorial service is held at the Ministry of Education headquarters building, today’s Gustavo Capanema Palace. In attendance were former Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek, Hermes Lima, representing President João Goulart, clandestine Communist leaders Luis Carlos Prestes and Carlos Marighela, and the anticommunist leader and governor of Guanabara State Carlos Lacerda. The federal government issues a death notice and three days of mourning are declared in Guanabara State.

<html><body><p>Velório de Portinari, vendo-se seu filho João Candido ao lado do presidente Juscelino Kubitschek.</p></body></html> — Morte de Portinari 1962-02-08