Les Muses de Tijuca : Portugais et Français à Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

The historiography of art in Brazil generally views the arrival of the « French Artistic Mission » as a milestone for its disruption of the colonial tradition and the introduction of elements associated with modernity: educational institutions, public exhibitions, and art criticism. However, this notion can be misleading if one considers the culture of figurative art that existed within the Portuguese colonial empire, obfuscating the formation of a Luso-Brazilian artistic civilization that linked characteristics derived from social and religious facets of the colonial regime to renewal efforts stemming from enlightened reformism. This article contributes to an understanding of the tensions between the French artists and the Portuguese cultural community in Brazil in light of the crown’s art promotion policies that prevailed following the transfer of the court to Rio de Janeiro and that led eventually to the creation of institutional models inspired by France.

Keywords

• Brazilian art
• Rio de Janeiro
• nineteenth century
• academicism
• French artists