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Abstracts
Head Orientation as a Sign of Moral Intent in Guaman Poma de Ayala's Nueva Coronica y Buen Gobierno
Charles Swainston
Interiores e Mobiliário no Brasil Imperial Antes do Ecletismo
Marize Malta
A Persistência do Espírito Barroco na Arquitetura Moderna Brasileira
Almir Paredes Cunha
Reconstructing Ruins: An Exploration of the Grotesque in Mid-twentieth Century American Architecture
Helen Thomas
A expressão gráfica de Anna Letycia e Adir Botelho no Salão Nacional de Arte Moderna - Uma Contribuição ao Estudo da Gravura Contemporânea Brasileira
Angela Ancora da Luz
Head Orientation as a Sign of Moral Intent in Guaman Poma de Ayala's Nueva Coronica y Buen Gobierno
Charles Swainston
Archaeologist and art historian. MA Native American Studies, University of Essex, PhD Department of Art History & Theory at the same university. Currently co-director of an Archaeological dig in Arizona.
Little is known of Guaman Poma de Ayala apart from that he perhaps wrote the singularly most important text to have survived Spanish Conquistadors in Peru. Composed as an open letter to the King of Spain, King Philip II, Poma attempted to formulate a mode of government that would take into consideration the rights of the indigenous population. To justify these rights Poma included a sort of anthropological/historical study of the peoples who inhabited the land before the European Conquest and accounts of the tensions that have arisen between the Spanish and the Andeans. To help support this argument Poma illustrated the text with pertinent scenes of life in this Spanish colony both before and after conquest.
As a consequence of the intent of Poma the images that are under consideration in this essay are imbued with certain political messages framed within a European context, an ink drawn image, but which exhibit fundamental Andean spatial and temporal concepts. Head orientation as a method for imbuing dramatic tension within an image is not a new concept but it is one that Guaman Poma employs to great effect. Such a device is implicit in images reliant predominantly on narrative as its modus operandi; Medieval European prints, for example, a source that Poma made extensive use of.
What will concern this paper are not those images which utilise head orientation as a means to convey dialogue or the direction of implied action. Such examples exist in most, if not all of the frames in the Cronica. Rather, I shall concentrate on the use of head orientation as a vehicle employed to engage the viewer in independent moral speculation. My examples will therefore only be taken from scenes which concern the injustices faced by Andeans in the course of colonialisation. Effectively this involves statements on the abuse of power and moral speculation.
Interiores e Mobiliário no Brasil Imperial Antes do Ecletismo
Marize Malta
Arquiteta. Especialista em História e Arquitetura no Brasil pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro. Mestre em História da Arte pela Escola de Belas Artes da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Professora de História do Mobiliário, no Curso de Design de Interiores da Escola de Belas Artes/UFRJ. Pesquisadora na área de Interiores e Mobiliário Brasileiros
There are few studies about Brazilian interiors, decoration and furniture, and in these, all three elements are usually analysed together. This text represents a preliminary approach to the Imperial Period, analysing the relationship between history, architecture, and the decorative arts.
Starting with the historic changes at the beginning of the 19th century, this paper shows how new habits and new tastes influenced the desire for modernisation and sophistication. Parties and dinners became common, increasing the number of social rooms in houses, while the unique architecture of the colonial era was avoided. A new image was required to denote independence and the birth of an Empire. The neo-classical style was the synonymous with this image.
The pediments hid the roofs, the supports appeared to elevate the height of buildings, and rhythm and symmetry took effect. In relation to interiors, the bare walls became colourful, decorated, and hung with paintings. Beautiful empty rooms began to need furnishing. Furniture, that was so rare, increased in production in response to the need for quantity and diversity.
The development of neo-classical furniture was a process that had begun at the end of 18th century with D. Maria I style. However this style didn't satisfy the thirst for powerful and sober images, as did the Brazilian Empire. This classical furniture of the 19th century also expressed nobility and simplicity and followed the principles of regularity when arranged into spaces. Soon after, another style was introduced- Luís Felipe, a neo-rococo style - that came to exist in harmony with the classical decoration.
Despite European influences throughout the imperial period, such as English and French styles, Brazilian furniture before Eclecticism retained its habit of transforming and simplifying, creating a specific way of being classical. The Brazilian Empire and Luís Felipe styles were so well accepted that they remained as synonymous with a Brazilian way of life and became references for designers in the 50's and 60's when the latter were in search of Brazilian images as points of reference.
A Persistência do Espírito Barroco na Arquitetura Moderna Brasileira
Almir Paredes Cunha
Prof. of Art History and Director of the Fine Arts School at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and Coordinator of the Mphil in Art History at the same school.
The idea of a baroque spirit present in Brazilian modern architecture is not new. Nevertheless there has been no consistent analysis of it. Baroquism is an international phenomenon which took place after the Second World War that can be observed in the Formalism of the Guggenheim Museum, in New York, and the Ronchamps Chapel, in Haute Saône, for example.
We have used as a starting point Leo Balet's theory which interprets baroque as a consequence of authoritarianism. According to him, it was a style to exalt Absolutism and the Counter-Reformation and had as its main characteristics monumentality, luxury, dynamism, dramaticism, and decorative exaggeration.
These characteristics can be present with greater or lesser intensity in Brazilian modern architecture, specially in the 1950's and 60's. This becomes clear when we look at the Brazilian political regime at the time - presidencialism with hints of absolutism - and is reinforced by the fact that the government was the main commissioner of architects at the time.
There had been antecedents in the 1940's such as the Pampulha Chapel and the Casa do Baile both by Oscar Niemeyer works. Monumental and sinuous buildings such as Copan, Oscar Niemeyer, Conjuntos do Pedregulho and Gávea have baroque grandeur and dynamism. These characteristics are also present at the Museu de Arte Moderna of Rio de Janeiro, with its V shaped pilotis and helicoidal stairs, and at the pavilions for the IV Centenary of São Paulo Exhibition.
Brasília can be interpreted as the culmination of this tendency: grandeur is present in it from its avenues' names - Eixo Monumental, Super-quadra - to its dimensions; the buildings are monumental, on a scale that can overwhelm men. Luxury can be exemplified by the revetments used - marble, gilt glazed tiles. Dramaticism is represented by the stairs, ramps, the parlatório - the stage for a show of authority - as well as mirrored walls and water-mirrors to produce an illusory space. Dynamism appears in helicoidal stairs, sinuous pilotis, curvilinear plans or in revolving water. Decorative exaggeration, though less obvious than the other characteristics, can be seen in the frequent repetition of the same decorative element, such as the sculptured wall on the lateral face of Teatro Nacional.
Reconstructing Ruins: An Exploration of the Grotesque in Mid-twentieth Century American Architecture
Helen Thomas
Architect (Liverpool University). Has taught Architectural History and Design at University College London, University of North London, Winchester College of Art and Middlesex University. Currently doing a PhD in Art History and Theory at the University of Essex.
This paper is about the use of the grotesque in mid- twentieth century American architecture, and its connection to the ruined, forgotten objects and places that suffer this quality. The discussion sweeps across the disciplines of painting, building and archaeological writing and discovery, reflecting the processes of borrowing and redefinition that production within them entails. The impetus for this interest was a quote from JB Jackson, a well-known commentator on the north American landscape, who once stated that "there has to be that interval of neglect, there has to be discontinuity ... I refer to the necessity for ruins (which) provide the incentive for restoration, and a return to origins." (Jackson 1980: 102) From this two threads have been developed in the first part of the paper. On one hand the reoccurrence of meaning that ancient objects and places enjoy throughout history is considered in the work of architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and painters like Emily Carr. Closely connected with this is the importance that these have as representatives of the past in the creation of histories and national identities.
The connection between archaeology and architecture is reinforced by looking at ideas of site and land in the second part of the paper. The land in this context can be understood as the physical surface onto and under which the memories, remains and possibilities of a new culture exist and can be projected through physical construction. Important within the argument here is the way in which the works of particular mid-twentieth century architects connect their work to a specific site. The discussion follows the reuse of the grotesque in the work of architects Luis Barragán and Juan O'Gorman on the lava field of El Pedregal at the edges of Mexico City. Their response to the idea of the grotesque, both in terms of the physical qualities of the place itself and the history it contains, is examined as an aesthetic value which develops subsequent to earlier archaeological and anthropological interpretations.
A expressão gráfica de Anna Letycia e Adir Botelho no Salão Nacional de Arte Moderna - Uma Contribuição ao Estudo da Gravura Contemporânea Brasileira
Angela Ancora da Luz
Professora de História e Teoria da Arte do Mestrado em História da Arte da EBA (Escola de Belas Artes) - UFRJ (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro). Mestre em Filosofia (Estética) - IFCS (Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Sociais -. Doutoranda em História (Cultura) - IFCS-UFRJ
This work is about Brazilian Modern Art issues at the National Modern Art Salon, where we can observe the greater importance given to painting in comparison to other techniques of artistic representation, a bias that demonstrates an equivocal perspective regarding the context of modernity iteself in the Official Salons.
Anna Letycia and Adir Botelho's graphic expression at the National Modern Art Salon is outstanding. Two of the most important names in the field of etching in Brazil, their work there received prizes in 1958 and 1959, respectively.The award of these prizes broke a rule in the organization of the National Salons, since only paintings were awarded in consecutive years. To the other techniques, prizes were awarded according to an established schedule, following the section in which the works were entered. Two international and two national "Prix de Voyage" were awarded every year. One of each kind was always given to the painting category, while the other winners were chosen from among etching, sculpture, drawing, etc.
The graphic expression of these two brazilian artists broke traditional rules, forcing us to re-think the power that etching carried in the construction of Brazil's Modern Art. Through some of these two artists' works, we try to show the most important aspects of their contribution to the construction of a modern aesthetic in the Salons.
From that moment on, the National Modern Art Salon was able to find its way to being what it was meant to be, without realising that the category it had always neglected was about to give meaning to it's modernity, as testified by the works of Anna Letycia and Adir Botelho.
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