Letter

CO-1312 International Fine Arts Council; Cohen, Harry. [Carta] 1956 Jan. 5, New York, NY [para] Candido Portinari, Rio de Janeiro, RJ. [inglês][datilografado] Dear Mr. Portinari: We have the honor to inform you of the fact that the vote for painting this year was overwhelmingly in your favor and the tribute to you work was inspiring. Today we have been advised by Eberaldo Telles Machado, Aide to the Ambassador of Brazil that they have set the date of January 16th as the date that the Ambassador will receive the medal for you in absentia from General Ulysses S. Grant our representative in Washington. We are today advising the Consul General H. E. Hugo Gouthier of Brazil, that we are placing the medal in his hand for safe transport to the Embassy in Washington, and for the official reception there. When you have received it in Brazil, we hope that you will be good enough to communicate with us and to send us your comment. If you can send us at once a comment of 500 words or less, for THE ARTIST SPEAKS section of our Bulletin 1956 on the medal recipients, we will be happy to publish it. But this must be done at once; if we are to publish it. Again, our felicitations, and our best wishes, Sincerely yours, Harry Cohen, M.D. President FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: GOLD MEDAL RECIPIENTS From Great Britain, Brazil, and America Dr. Harry Cohen, MD, FACS, FICS, SC.D., PH.D., LITT.D., K.C.G., President of the International Fine-Arts Council, announces the names of the IFAC GOLD MEDAL OF HONOR awards in the fields of PAINTING, SCULPTURE, AND THE GRAPHIC ARTS for the year 1955. THE PROGRAMME INCLUDES AN AWARD FOR THE FIELD OF ARCHITECTURE but no nomination was made in that field this year. THE AWARDS IN THREE FIELDS THIS YEAR are based on votes cast by a heterogeneous group of intellectuals whose impressive accomplishments in various professions cause them to be invited to participate as members of the GOLD MEDAL ADVISORY BOARD, a number of which are herein listed to the left. NOMINATIONS FOR THE AWARD HERE OR ABROAD, are made by four os more members of any art or learned society; by two or more cultural representatives or attaches of any foreign country; or by four or more members of the IFAC GOLD MEDAL ADVISORY BOARD. Those artists nominated for the award must be men whose professional reputation has increased over the years, causing the artist to be know abroad, to have exhibited and been recognized with commissions, sales, and reviews in countries other than his own, and to have gradually ascended by virtue of his merit to various professional distinctions. IT IS IN THE LIGHT OF THE FOREGOING THE IFAC GOLD MEDAL OF HONOR, therefore, is not a competitive award; for in many cases, as was evidenced this year, four men representing four different countries, so remarkably outstanding as to be know internationally as dedicated models of superb achievement where their professional skill is concerned, where simultaneously nominated. In selecting one of these four for the SCULPTURE AWARD, perhaps the most difficult choice ever asked of a votinh Board member was asked. THESE WERE: Messrs. Louis FERON, America; Ossip ZADKINE, France; Leo BROM, Netherlands; and Luigi ZANNINI, Switzerland. FOR HIS SUPREME CRAFT, for his many-faceted abilities, for his extraordinary power of design and remarkable originality of vision, for his ability to use knowledge so fundamentally steeped in classical tradition to thoughts and moods which suggest planes and lines so futuristic and inventive as to reveal that this master indeed belongs to all modern schools and is not, and could never be, hampered by any limitations imposed upon him, the majority did cast their vote for Louis FERON. Sculptor, jeweller, silversmith, architectural sculptor and artist to the Church, Mr. Feron has not been surpassed in his native France which has showered upon him more honors than any other artist, and which include the twice received: BEST CRAFTSMAN OF FRANCE AWARD by the French Government, and the ORDRE DE TRAVAIL from the Sorbonne University some years ago. FOR THE FIELD OF PAINTING: Nominations of the following were made: MESSRS: Peppino MANGRAVITE, America; Jacob DOOYEWAARD, Netherlands; and Candido PORTINARI, Brazil. MR. PORTINARI, acknowledged by architects, cognoscenti and critics alike, in various parts of the world as one of the most inventive minds in modern art, is a muralist of the most heroic and profound proportions, and is moreover, a social-conscious humanist whose investigations and impressions have added to the understanding of his compatriots abroad. This does not imply that his art is purely native or that Portinari is ever limited by his subject; on the contrary, he gives evidence always of being cosmopolitan, thoroughly unhampered by boundaries or limitations, geographical or intellectual. Recognized at an early age by officials of the National Salon in Rio de Janeiro, as a young man of great potential he was sent abroad with a Fellowship and thereupon traveled through Spain, Italy and France. He has exhibited at the World’s Fair in New York, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, at Carnegie Institute, at the Bienale in Venice, in Paris, in Buenos Aires, in Montevideo, and other countries and is represented in many collections, museums and public buildings. THERE WAS BUT ONE NOMINATION MADE FOR THE FIELD OF GRAPHIC ARTS, and it is to be doubted that if any number had been posed FELIKS TOPOLSKI of Great Britain, he would not have called the honor to himself for his extraordinary achievements in his field. For his unique prowess and unparalleled prolific output, TOPOLSKI remains unchallenged. The publications know as the TOPOLSKI CHRONICLE contain literally thousands of this master’s drawings, delineations of character and thought, pungent for their luminosity. And over the years, he has been known for the many books he has illustrated, which include: “Portrait of G.B.S.”; Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”; and Shaw’s “Geneva”, among other books. Periodicals in this country (U.S.) include Fortune, Life, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar; international periodicals include: Illustrated London News, Picture Post, France Libre, The Voice of the World Listener, among others. In 1945 he exhibited his War Drawings at the Knoedler Galleries in New York. And in 1952, he was commissioned by the British Government to record the Coronation. Foreign ambassadors have agreed to receive the awards for the artists in absentia. Each Embassy will release the date of the reception. Gen. Grant in Washington will represent IFAC. By DR. HARRY COHEN, President INTERNTIONAL FINE-ARTS COUNCIL 521 Fifth Avenue, MU-7-2367 New York Hellene Bassell, Dir. Pub. Rel. and Publications PLEASE CREDIT SOURCE OF INFORMATION. EDITORS ARE ASKED TO CONSULT WITH HELLENE BASSELL SHOULD EXCLUSIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERAIL BE REQUESTED OR REQUIRED FOR ANY PURPOSES BEYOND THE PERIOD OF RELEASE. PHOTOS WILL BE SENT SPECIAL DELIVERY TO ANY EDITORS REQUESTING THE SAME FOR THE RELEASE OF THIS INFORMATION. 3