Where to See Candido Portinari

Candido Portinari's artwork can be viewed in several museums internationally. In the United States, these include the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (Winter Park, Florida), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Minneapolis), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond), and the Wolfsonian at Florida International University (Miami Beach). In Canada, his work is held at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. In the United Kingdom, you can find Portinari at the Bakelite Museum (Williton), Brighton Museum & Art Gallery (Brighton), the Geffrye Museum (London), Manchester Art Gallery (Manchester), the National Museums of Scotland (Edinburgh), and the Victoria & Albert Museum (London).

Candido Portinari (1903^[1]-1962^[1]) was a Brazilian^[1] painter, but information about his prints is scarce. Prints are generally produced in two main categories: original prints and reproductions. Original prints, such as woodcuts, engravings, or lithographs, are created by hand by the artist, with the artwork made specifically for the print medium. Each one is considered an original because the artist directly creates the artwork on the plate, woodblock, stone, or screen. Reproductions, including offset reproductions (posters) and giclée prints, are created through photochemical or digital means. The plates used for offset reproductions do not wear out, so there are no physical limits to the number of prints that can be made; however, publishers may limit quantities to increase the edition's value. Giclée prints are fine art prints made using inkjet technology. When buying prints, look for limited editions, where the artist signs and numbers each print (for example, 35/100). This indicates the print's number in the series and the total number of prints in the edition. Artists may also create artist's proofs, marked "AP", which are outside the numbered edition.

Details regarding Candido Portinari's specific techniques are scarce in the provided texts. However, the passages do offer insight into the materials and methods of other artists, as well as the conditions affecting artists' choices. One passage describes an artist using cotton duck canvas primed with white gesso, then applying oil paint mixed with wax and turpentine. The mixture was applied with a brush and worked with a spatula and knife. Another artist used cotton duck canvas with gesso, or Masonite coated with gesso. One passage discusses artists in the Democratic Republic of Congo using discarded materials such as flour sacks and other used fabrics due to financial constraints. They used cold glue and house paint as a ground layer, and inks found at printer shops for colour. Some artists made their own brushes and strainers, and did not use varnish due to cost. Another passage mentions El Greco using a layer of animal-skin size applied thinly with a palette knife. He used a ground consisting of red ochre and gesso tempered with linseed oil, also applied with a palette knife.

It is difficult to summarise Candido Portinari's influences concisely. However, some connections can be drawn to European modernists. Amedeo Modigliani, an Italian artist working in Paris, was one such figure. Modigliani's drawings for *Cariatide* (circa 1913^[1]) show the influence of Picasso's 1906 studies of women. Modigliani, in turn, influenced other painters of his generation from around 1915. These included Moise Kisling and Chaim Soutine. His paintings also inspired Gio Ponti, an Italian industrial designer. Giorgio de Chirico, another Italian artist, provides a further point of reference. De Chirico's early work was influenced by Arnold Böcklin and Max Klinger. His brother, Alberto Savinio, also shared an interest in Böcklin and Greek poetry. De Chirico's time in Florence moved him away from direct imitation of German Symbolists. He retained two motifs from Böcklin: a draped figure and a combination of arcades and loggias.

Candido Portinari is best known for his large-scale mural paintings. He received many commissions from the Brazilian^[1] government and other institutions. Two large murals, *Guerra e Paz* (War and Peace), stand out as particularly significant. These were commissioned by the Brazilian government as a gift to the United Nations in 1952^[1]. Portinari worked on the paintings from 1952 to 1956. They were initially displayed in São Paulo. In 1957, they were moved to the UN headquarters in New York City. These panels reflect Portinari's social concerns and artistic skill. *Guerra* depicts scenes of conflict and suffering. *Paz* offers a vision of harmony and reconciliation. The works combine European modernist styles with Brazilian themes. They are among the most important examples of his public art. They also brought international attention to his work.

Candido Portinari's artistic affiliations are complex, as his career spanned several decades and incorporated diverse influences. He is generally considered a modern artist, absorbing past traditions and fashioning a personal language. Some classify Portinari within the broader context of Brazilian^[1] Modernism, a movement that sought to create a distinct national identity in the arts. Others associate him with social realism, because of his focus on the lives and struggles of ordinary people in Brazil. His paintings often depicted labourers, migrants, and the rural poor, reflecting social and political concerns. Although Portinari engaged with international art trends, such as Cubism, he adapted them to his own cultural context and artistic vision. He did not strictly adhere to any single style or movement; his work defies easy categorisation.

Modern artists are known for separating art into antagonistic components. They carry the world of tangibility and tactility to their logical conclusions in their abstractions, producing pictures that have made painting a thing in itself, freed as possible from human associations. In illusory painting, they have carried pictures into the realm of utmost illusions, the subconscious. They have consciously made varying arrangements of the two simultaneously to hint at the ultimate unity of these worlds, a unification we are yet far from achieving. Modern art directly examines the established relationships of past centuries. As a symbol of its joy in its researches, it has always allowed the scaffolding to remain. Unlike the story of the Egyptians who secretly pulled the levers behind the statue of Moloch, these artists take pride in displaying the human quality of the magic of their world.

Candido Portinari is known for his paintings depicting Brazilian^[1] life, particularly plantation workers, coffee pickers, labourers, and the poor. His notable works include The Mestizo (1934^[1]) and Coffee (1935), and he is also recognised for his large mural cycle Guerra e Paz (War and Peace) at the United Nations headquarters.