Antônio Almeida: a interface entre a arte e a arquitetura moderna maranhense

Abstract

The interface between art and modern architecture in Brazil has as its icon and reference the building of the Ministry of Education and Health (1943) in Rio de Janeiro. The building has works by Cândido Portinari that provide a lightness to the building through tile panels and, in Brazil, the contact of the fine arts with modern architecture, which had been set aside at the beginning of the movement when the search for rationality, was abandoned. and functionality was essential. In São Luís, this correlation can be found in the works of self-taught plastic artist Maranhão, Antônio Almeida, a native of Lagoa do Jacaré, one of the artists responsible for introducing art in the state's modernist works, mostly performed in public buildings. institutional Almeida uses different techniques to bring his works to life, among them the tile, which was used in one of his most famous works on the ludovicense island, the southern facade of the Maranhão State Bank building (1987). The artist was responsible for opening the door for other artists in the art introduced in modern architecture. Thus, this article arises from the perspective of focusing on the ornament paradigm in the architecture of the modern movement, highlighting the growing lack of characterization of the examples of these languages that reflect the history of our cities.