The Fantasy of Color

Carnivals featured at the beginning and end of Bulcão's long painting career. From the 1940s to the early 1960s, his paintings depict a strange procession of almost-schematic figures, always shown standing in a line ...

… with their costumes hinting much more at Venetian carnivals of yore than the Rio festivities of the early 20th century.

His palette is truly unique, with browns and raw and burnt earth colors alongside that lapis lazuli blue, colors which are not normally associated with the tropical festivals of our imaginations.

“Masked figures, with strange features, whose silent gestures are simultaneously magical and dramatic, belong to a space without time, a space which they shape".

Ítalo Campofiorito  

“I have been influenced by painters that I like a lot, like Paul Klee, Matisse, influences on my colors. But my influences are very broad. My latest drawings have also been influenced by Carnival".
 
Athos Bulcão

What is really strange to note is that a visit to Brasilia's cathedral and his 1960s series of 10 paintings on marble called The Life of Our Lady (A Vida de Nossa Senhora) show the same composition and use of color as his carnival paintings.

This series of works is divided into 10 small paintings. They depict New Testament stories about the lives of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ and are arranged chronologically.

The Virgin is the central figure in these scenes since these paintings were made for Brasilia's Cathedral, which is dedicated to Our Lady Aparecida, the patroness of Brasilia and Brazil.