Dacosta, Milton (1915-1988) - 1948 Figure (Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Curitiba, Brazil)
(b niterói, 1915; d rio de janeiro, 1988). brazilian painter. he entered the escola nacional de belas artes, rio de janeiro, in 1930 and in 1931 was one of the founders of the núcleo bernardelli, whose aim was to build on the initial successes of modernism. after at first being influenced by cézanne he painted cyclists, bathers and children playing, in compositions of carefully linked rectangles, cubes, cylinders, spheres and pyramids (at the swimming-pool , 1942; rio de janeiro, roberto marinho priv. col.). in later works he was briefly influenced by pittura metafisica and surrealism, surrounding ordinary objects with a schematic architecture and mysterious trompe l’oeil mannequins and faces. from 1944 to 1946 he lived in the usa and europe. in the mid-1950s, in constructions such as on a brown background (1955; u. são paulo, mus. a. contemp.) and on a red background (1955; rio de janeiro, mus. manchete), he began to produce austere works close to concrete art. he established his compositions on strict mathematical principles, generally using only two or three colours and precise lines intersected at right angles. in 1963, though retaining the formal economy of his earlier work, he returned to the figure in the series venus, angels and pageantry , treated in a manner at once sensual and ascetic (venus and the bird , 1976; rio de janeiro, gal. acervo).
Grove Art excerpts - Electronic ©2003, Oxford Art Online
Dacosta, Milton (1915-1988) - 1948 Figure (Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Curitiba, Brazil)
(b niterói, 1915; d rio de janeiro, 1988). brazilian painter. he entered the escola nacional de belas artes, rio de janeiro, in 1930 and in 1931 was one of the founders of the núcleo bernardelli, whose aim was to build on the initial successes of modernism. after at first being influenced by cézanne he painted cyclists, bathers and children playing, in compositions of carefully linked rectangles, cubes, cylinders, spheres and pyramids (at the swimming-pool , 1942; rio de janeiro, roberto marinho priv. col.). in later works he was briefly influenced by pittura metafisica and surrealism, surrounding ordinary objects with a schematic architecture and mysterious trompe l’oeil mannequins and faces. from 1944 to 1946 he lived in the usa and europe. in the mid-1950s, in constructions such as on a brown background (1955; u. são paulo, mus. a. contemp.) and on a red background (1955; rio de janeiro, mus. manchete), he began to produce austere works close to concrete art. he established his compositions on strict mathematical principles, generally using only two or three colours and precise lines intersected at right angles. in 1963, though retaining the formal economy of his earlier work, he returned to the figure in the series venus, angels and pageantry , treated in a manner at once sensual and ascetic (venus and the bird , 1976; rio de janeiro, gal. acervo).
Grove Art excerpts - Electronic ©2003, Oxford Art Online