Almeida Júnior, José Ferraz de (1850–1899)

José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior (b. 8 May 1850; d. 13 November 1899), Brazilian painter best known for his caipira paintings. Born in Itú, São Paulo, Almeida Júnior enrolled in the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in 1869. A disciple of Vítor Meireles, Almeida Júnior specialized in drawing and historical painting. Between 1871 and 1874 he won seven student painting awards. In 1874 he obtained the gold medal in historical painting, entitling him to compete for the academy's European travel award competition. Although he declined, he did accept a monthly stipend to travel in Europe offered by the emperor, Pedro II, who took an active interest in supporting talented young artists.

In Paris he studied with French academic artists and entered several Salon exhibitions. When he returned to Rio in 1882, he organized an exhibition to show the eight paintings he had completed while in Europe. They included religious paintings, figure studies, genre paintings, and a new category, caipira painting. His O Derrubador brasileiro, the first in a series of caipira paintings, expanded the narrow thematic options then available to historical and genre painters. It remained faithful to the traditional academic aesthetic canons but depicted a scene in the daily life of the common people from the interior of the state of São Paulo. These paintings helped bring into focus the important historical role of the Brazilian backwoodsmen. His other caipira compositions include Caipiras negaceando, Caipira picando fumo, Pescando, Amolação interrompida, and Caipira pitando.

See alsoMeireles de Lima, Vitor .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gastão Pereira Da Silva, Almeida Júnior: Sua vida e sua obra (1946).

Marcos Antônio Marcondes, Almeida Júnior: Vida e obras (1980).

Additional Bibliography

Coli Júnior, Jorge Sidney. "A violência e o caipira." Estudos Históricos 30 (2002): 23-31.

Mello Júnior, Donato. "O pintor Almeida Júnior e o imperador d. Pedro II." Revista do Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro 337 (October-December 1982): 185-192.

                               Caren A. Meghreblian