Weingärtner, Pedro (1853–1929)

Pedro Weingärtner (b. 1853; d. 1929), Brazilian painter. Born in Pôrto Alegre, Weingärtner did not take up painting until he went to Germany in 1879. After four years in Hamburg and Karlsruhe, he moved to Paris, where he studied under the painters Tony Robert-Fleury and Adolphe Bouguereau. In 1885 he received a travel award from the personal coffers of the Brazilian emperor Dom Pedro II that allowed him to continue his artistic training in Italy. Before leaving for Rome, however, he had his first exhibition. The ten paintings he showed were received favorably, and one critic was so impressed with Weingärtner's drawing abilities that he declared him "Brazil's first painter." While in Rome, he executed genre paintings and paintings with themes drawn from classical subject matter. Examples include Bad Harvest, Jealousies, Bacanal, and Cock Fights. The French press criticized Cock Fights when it was shown at the Paris Salon because it was a copy of Jean-Léon Gérôme's painting of the same title. Weingärtner's first gaucho paintings were exhibited in 1892. Paintings such as Late Arrival and Tangled Threads affirmed his talent.

Throughout his later life, Weingärtner spent many years living and painting in Rome. In spite of the winds of modernism, he remained devoted to themes of daily life, classical subject matter, and life among the gauchos in Pôrto Alegre.

See alsoArt: The Nineteenth Century .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arte no Brasil, vol. 2 (1979), pp. 569-570.

Additional Bibliography

Coelho Netto, J. Teixeira. 500 años de pintura no Brasil. São Paulo: Lemos Editorial, 2000.

                                 Caren A. Meghreblian