A Escola de Belas Artes da Bahia: pintores esquecidos e consagrados 1889-1950

Abstract

This thesis addresses the artistic, political and institutional reasons that led to either the recognition or the oblivion of some Bahian painters in the first half of the 20th century. Graduated from the School of Fine Arts of Bahia (Escola de Belas Artes da Bahia - EBAB), all of those painters taught drawing or painting in the State of Bahia (Brazil) and contributed to the advancement of Bahian arts. Regardless of their different aesthetical approaches and artistic levels, all of those painters enjoyed recognition in the first three decades of the last century. The Architecture course at EBAB came to the forefront in the 1920s, and a group of engineers trained at the Polytechnic School took over the school in 1928, aiming at remodeling the Architecture course, which hadn’t had official recognition thus far. In keeping with the modernist ideology in place at that time, the architect was the professional chosen to lead the country towards building a new national identity, and Architecture courses were to train such professionals. At EBAB, artists accused the engineers of embezzling funds from the Caminhoá Legacy, a testamentary gift made to the school by the engineer Francisco Caminhoá in 1915, which led to conflicts between artists and engineers resulting in the suspension, dismissal or retirement of the senior artist teachers, who were replaced by renowned names in Bahian art with the intent of both renewing the art of painting and hiding the accusations. Managed by the engineers, the school was renewed and got the political support necessary to rebuild it, being then annexed to the University of Bahia in 1947. The artist teachers who remained alongside the engineers, thereby helping in the modernization project, were recognized by our historiography, while the others were hidden and gradually forgotten. The uproar between senior artists and engineers, the modernization project and the modernist historiography in Bahia highlighted some painters and excluded others, thus interfering in their lives and also in their memories.