After
Portinari Popular and
Tarsila Popular ,
MASP - Museu de Arte Assis Chateaubriand presents its third solo exhibition on modernist artists:
Volpi Popular opens on February 25th and features around 100 works, which offer the public a panoramic view of the complex and diverse practice of Alfredo Volpi.
Curated by Tomás Toledo, chief curator of MASP, the exhibition occupies the first floor of the museum and is divided into seven sections, which cover the different themes of the artist's production:
Urban and rural scenes; Saints; Portraits; Seascapes and nautical themes; Facades; Flags, masts and banners; and Playful themes. Catalog
Accompanying the exhibition,
the most comprehensive catalogue about the artist in a single volume will be published, containing illustrations of all the works exhibited, unpublished texts by Adele Nelson, Antonio Brasil Jr., Aracy Amaral, Kaira Cabañas, Nathaniel Wolfson, Sônia Salzstein and Tomás Toledo , a biographical note written by Matheus de Andrade and two historical interviews with the artist conducted by Mário Pedrosa and Walmir Ayala.
The trajectory of
Alfredo Volpi (Lucca, Italy, 1896 — São Paulo, Brazil, 1988) is characterized by a combination of different
elements and themes of popular culture with founding aspects of modern tradition , bringing together his interests in artisanal work, care for nature and manufacture of paints and canvases, popular festivals and religious themes, vernacular houses, as well as references to Brazilian modernism and the history of European art and its pictorial tradition. Born in Italy into a working-class family, the artist emigrated to São Paulo as a child. In the early period of his production, he was more of a worker than an artist and was involved in the political movements of the 1920s that generated the first proletarian organizations and anarchists, far from the avant-garde circuit that organized the Week of 22. His work reveals references not only to elements of Brazilian popular culture, but also to a
work experience marked by deep contact with manual techniques, parallel to the modernist trends and outside the axis of capitals of Rio-São Paulo — passing through Itanhaém, on the coast of São Paulo, and Mogi das Cruzes, in the interior of São Paulo.
Volpi's early production is marked by
his self-taught practice , which began in 1911 and focused on urban and rural landscapes. In the 1930s, he began painting saints for reproduction in retrogravures as a means of subsistence. Although he did not initially consider this work as his own, , the theme of
religious images ended up mixing with his artistic production, which became more pronounced during the 1940s. The 1940s also marked the beginning of
representations of festivities and facades of Brazilian vernacular and colonial architecture , in an immersion in the interest in the popular. In the following decade, Volpi began to synthesize his compositions, making his figuration increasingly geometric, with recurring patterns, shapes and themes — such as the famous flags, masts, banners, facades and ogives — that he developed until the end of his career.
Service - Volpi popular
When: February 25 to June 5. Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm. Tuesdays, 10am to 8pm. Closed on Mondays.
Where: MASP — Assis Chateaubriand Museum of Art of São Paulo. Paulista Avenue, 1578 - Bela Vista, São Paulo - SP Online booking required via the website
masp.org.br/ingressos Tickets: R$50 (entry); R$25 (half-price). Free on Tuesdays
