Menotti Del Picchia's Intellectual Evolution from Monteiro Lobato's Influence
During Brazil's First Republic, intellectuals conceptualized Brazilian art as a European offshoot, with Monteiro Lobato and Menotti Del Picchia debating national identity. Del Picchia initially aligned with Lobato's 1914 critiques of indigenous and caboclo figures as backward, publishing "Matemos Peri!" in 1921 to reject romanticized indigenous symbols. By 1920, Lobato shifted, embracing the Jeca Tatu figure in "Ideias de Jeca Tatu" as a traditionalist symbol, while Del Picchia's 1923 "O nariz de Cleópatra" mocked the caipira. Del Picchia, an Italian immigrant descendant, ultimately superseded Lobato by advocating for European immigrants as Brazil's modern racial and artistic base, arguing for a cosmopolitan, Western-derived national art. Their dialogue, analyzed by Annateresa Fabris in 1994, shaped São Paulo's modernist debates on art and ethnicity.
Key facts
- Menotti Del Picchia (1892-1988) initially admired Monteiro Lobato (1882-1948), calling him a futurist in 1921.
- Lobato's 1914 articles "Uma velha praga" and "Urupês" criticized the caboclo as parasitic and artistically barren.
- Del Picchia's 1921 article "Matemos Peri!" echoed Lobato's dismissal of the indigenous figure as a false national symbol.
- Lobato's 1919 book "Ideias de Jeca Tatu" repositioned the Jeca Tatu as a bearer of authentic Brazilian tradition.
- Del Picchia's 1920 poem "Juca Mulato" and 1923 book "O nariz de Cleópatra" treated caipira characters with irony or disdain.
- Del Picchia argued by 1922-1923 that Brazil's art was purely Western, with immigrants forming the new national race.
- Annateresa Fabris's 1994 book "O futurismo paulista" previously examined connections between Del Picchia and Lobato.
- The intellectual debate centered on whether Brazilian art should emphasize local specificity or European cosmopolitanism.
Entities
Artists
- Menotti Del Picchia
- Monteiro Lobato
- Anita Malfatti
- Victor Brecheret
- Guilherme de Almeida
- Oswald de Andrade
- Mário de Andrade
- José de Alencar
- Gonçalves Dias
- Manoel Querino
- Annateresa Fabris
Institutions
- Academia Brasileira de Letras
- Correio Paulistano
- Jornal do Comércio
- O Estado de S. Paulo
Locations
- São Paulo
- Brazil
- Portugal
- Paris
- Europe