Estudo para cartaz da I Bienal de São Paulo (1951) by Antônio MalufThe Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

The Graphic Arts

The Adolpho Leirner Collection includes original exhibition posters, invitations, and preparatory drawings dating from 1951 to 1967, all designed by artists who embraced the principles of Concretismo as well as the theoretical principles elaborated by the Dutch artist Theo van Doesburg (1883–1931) in 1930 and the Swiss artist Max Bill (1908–1994). The formal rigor, and the focus on geometry as a means to achieve clarity in design, shaped the work of these artists, who were also active graphic, landscape, and industrial designers. Among them are Geraldo de Barros (1923–1998) and Alexandre Wollner (b. 1928), both former students of the celebrated Hochschule für Gestaltung (School of Design), in Ulm, Germany. The work of the São Paulo-based Grupo ruptura—whose members included Waldemar Cordeiro (1925–1973), Lothar Charoux (1912–1987), Luis Sacilotto (1924–2003), and Anatol Wladislaw (1913–2004)—also straddled design. Other artists who made important contributions to the field of design include Antônio Maluf (1926–2005), Norberto Nicola (1930–2007), Willys de Castro (1926–1998), and Goebel Weyne (b. 1933). The Collection’s holdings include Maluf’s Cartaz da I Bienal de São Paulo [Poster for the First São Paulo Biennial], 1951 (and a study for this poster); the seminal manifesto of Grupo ruptura (1952); Nicola’s Convite de exposição do Atelier-Abstração no MAM-SP [Invitation for the Exhibition of Atelier Abstração], 1956, at the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo; and the poster for the Primeira Exposição Nacional de Arte Concreta [First National Exhibition of Concrete Art], 1956; among other works.

Primeira Bienal de São Paulo, Antônio Maluf, 1951, From the collection of: The Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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Manifesto grupo ruptura, Waldemar Cordeiro, 1952, From the collection of: The Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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Convite de exposição do Atelier Abstração no MAM-SP, Norberto Nicola, 1956, From the collection of: The Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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Cartaz para o IV Centenário de São Paulo, Geraldo de Barros, 1954, From the collection of: The Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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Cartaz para o Festival Internacional de Cinema do Brasil, Alexandre Wollner, 1954, From the collection of: The Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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Primeira Exposição Nacional de Arte Concreta, Waldemar Cordeiro, 1956, From the collection of: The Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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Poster for an exhibition of their work at Petite Galerie, Rio de Janeiro, Hércules Barsotti, 1962, From the collection of: The Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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Cartaz da IV Bienal de São Paulo, Alexandre Wollner, 1957, From the collection of: The Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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Cartaz de IX Bienal de São Paulo, Gustavo Goebel Weyne, 1958, From the collection of: The Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
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Credits: Story

The majority of this text accompanied the exhibition Dimensions of Constructive Art in Brazil: The Adolpho Leirner Collection, presented at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from May 20 to September 23, 2007. The exhibition was organized by Mari Carmen Ramírez, the Wortham Curator of Latin American Art and director of the International Center for the Arts of the Americas.
Our sincere thanks go to Adolpho Leirner, Mari Carmen Ramírez, María C. Gaztambide, Marty Stein, Matthew Lawson, Flora Brooks, and the Google Cultural Institute.
Design: Beatriz Olivetti and María Beatriz McGreger, ICAA-MFAH

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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