Exhibition "Paulo Pedro Leal: tragic suburb"

The first institutional exhibition of Paulo Pedro Leal (1894 – 1968), a self-taught Brazilian painter, presents the work of this artist who dedicated himself to the representation of scenes of wars and social conflicts, Umbanda rituals and rural landscapes, and whose life reflects various aspects of modernity in the country.

Sample Paulo Pedro Leal: tragic suburb It brings together more than 50 paintings created between the 1950s and 1960s, in a collection of works that demonstrate Leal's interest in the contradictions that structured the modernization process of Rio de Janeiro.

Paulo Pedro Leal spent years selling his works at Passeio Público, in downtown Rio de Janeiro. The artist identified himself as a "spiritual painter" and lived on the fringes of the institutional art circuit of the 20th century in Brazil, until in 1953 the art dealer and gallery owner Jean Boghici began to sell his works. His artistic production includes historical painting, landscape, still life, scenes of macumba (Afro-Brazilian religious practices), and urban life in Rio de Janeiro, created from observation of the world around him and contact with reproductions in books and periodicals.

The exhibition begins with works that highlight PPL's ​​interest in Western painting genres. Drowning of beggars (1965) Shipwreck (1953) even though the artist learned them outside of institutional circuits. In the gallery, there are works about shipwrecks – a great interest of the artist, who was a stevedore – and naval battles inspired by events of the First World War.

Still lifes and a series of landscapes can also be seen, resulting from observations of the encroachment of the suburbs on the countryside. Works such as... can be seen. Naval battle/bombardment of a port (1966) The Captain's House (1950) and Couple with fruit (no date).

Next, conflict scenarios in Rio de Janeiro are represented in scenes of bar fights and murders, which explore class contrast and racial issues. Featured works include... Modern surgery (1953) Crime at the hotel (1965) – work donated to the museum's collection – and Drowning of the beggars (1965), which makes Leal the only artist to portray the biggest public scandal of state violence before the military dictatorship. In 1963, under the brutal government of Carlos Lacerda, newspapers in Rio de Janeiro published photographs of the Service for the Repression of Begging throwing homeless people into the Guandu River, in an episode that became known as "Operation Beggar Killer".

In the third and final room, there are erotic works, the product of PPL's ​​observation of the city's brothel activities. In addition, representations of secular and religious festivals, syncretic images, and macumba rituals can be seen, showcasing his remarkable descriptive effort to explain all the components of this rite, of which he was a priest, as in the works... candomblé (no date) and Religious allegories (no date).

Service
Exhibition | Paulo Pedro Leal: tragic suburb
From April 11th to November 08th
Wednesday to Monday, from 10am to 18pm (entrance until 17pm)