Life and works of Athos Bulcão

On July 2, Athos Bulcão was born in the neighborhood of Catete in the then capital, Rio de Janeiro. He spent part of his childhood in a spacious house in Teresópolis. 

Athos lost his mother, Maria Antonieta da Fonseca Bulcão, to pulmonary emphysema before he was five years old. Along with his brother Jayme—11 years his senior—and his teenage sisters, Mariazinha and Dalila, he was brought up by his father, Fortunato Bulcão, a keen metalworker and a friend and associate of the writer Monteiro Lobato.

Athos and his friends were regulars at Vermelhinho, the famous bar on Araújo Porto Alegre Street in downtown Rio de Janeiro, where he rubbed shoulders with journalists, writers, poets, artists, musicians, architects, and members of Rio's intellectual circles.

In 1940, he became friends with the poet Murilo Mendes. The following year, he was selected for the National Exhibition of Fine Arts (Modern Division), where he won the Silver Medal for drawing and painting.

His second individual exhibition, which was held at the headquarters of the Brazilian Architects Institute, caused a huge controversy among critics, attracting negative reviews from Santa Rosa and Quirino Campofiorito. He started working with the A Manhã newspaper as an illustrator for their Literature and Arts supplement.

He designed the scenery for The Tell-Tale Heart, the Lúcio Cardoso theatrical adaptation of the story by Edgar Allan Poe. He received a study grant from the French government. He set off for Paris, where he studied drawing at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and took lithography courses in Jean Pons's atelier.

He received an honorable mention in a drawing competition at the Cité Universitaire. He featured in the album Ten Artists from Latin America (Dix Artistes de l’Amérique Latine), organized by Carlos Scliar and published by the Maison de L’Amérique Latine. In November, he returned to Rio de Janeiro.

He was a member of the jury at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts (Salão Nacional de Belas Artes), alongside Antonio Bento, Augusto Rodrigues, Burle Marx, Gastão Worms, Joaquim Tenreiro, Paulo Werneck, Percy Lau, Santa Rosa, and Ubi Bava. In 1951, he visited the 1st São Paulo International Art Biennial, which made a huge impact on him.

Having passed the civil service entrance examination, he started work in the Documentation Service at the then Ministry for Education and Health. He designed covers and did illustrations for magazines, catalogs, and books, including My Neighbor as Myself by Gustavo Corção. He also did his first photomontages.

He stepped up his work on interior architecture, encouraged by the sculptor Maria Martins. At the invitation of the director Martim Gonçalves, he made the costumes for the Gil Vicente play Everybody and Nobody for Maria Clara Machado's theater group, O Tablado.

He created the external tiles for Oscar Niemeyer's project for the Sul América Hospital, now the Lagoa Hospital, in Rio de Janeiro.

He made the costumes for O Tablado's production of Anton Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya, which was directed by Geraldo Queiróz.

He designed the covers for the magazines Brasil Arquitetura Contemporânea and Módulo. Módulo was edited by Oscar Niemeyer, and Bulcão continued working for the publication until 1957.

He designed the Sala Festa album covers for Irineu Garcia, including the monologue of Pedro Bloch's The Hands of Eurydice, read by the actor Rodolpho Mayer, and the audio recordings by the poets Vinicius de Moraes and Paulo Mendes Campos.

In August, he moved to Brasilia with Oscar Niemeyer and his team. He made the tiles for the Our Lady of Fatima Church and for the Brasilia Palace Hotel. He also illustrated the cover of the book The Empty City by Fernando Sabino.

He painted the mural at the Brasilia Palace Hotel …

and the ceiling of the Alvorada Palace Chapel.

In the same year, he illustrated the cover for the novel The Appointment by Fernando Sabino.

The new Brazilian capital, Brasilia, was inaugurated and Bulcão's work can be seen in several public buildings.

 He worked on projects with the architect João Filgueiras Lima, known as Lelé, as for the first time.

At Darcy Ribeiro's invitation, he started lecturing at the University of Brasilia's Arts Institute, which was managed by the architect Alcides da Rocha Miranda In 1965, he joined the protest movement that led to the dismissal of more than 200 lecturers at Brasilia University.

He designed the external relief for the Claudio Santoro National Theater. The relief was made in 1967.

In June, he went to Paris, at Oscar Niemeyer's invitation, and they worked together on projects in France, Italy, and Algeria. He returned to Brazil in December.

In 1973, he returned to Paris, once again at Oscar Niemeyer's request, and he lived there from March to December. The following year, a catalog of his work integrating art and architecture was published by Éditions Rousseau in Geneva, Switzerland. Jean Petit did the graphic design.

He started working more with the architect João Filgueiras Lima on a large number of projects for the Sarah Kubitschek Hospital, which specialized in motor recovery.

He designed the costumes and props for the Gian Carlo Menotti opera Ahmal and the Night Visitors, which was coordinated by Asta-Rose Alcaide and had scenery by Giselle Magalhães.

He stepped up his involvement in exhibitions, both collective and individual, in Brazil and abroad.

The Fundação Athos Bulcão was set up to preserve and promote the visual artist's work. The organization's archive also has a large collection of works donated by the artist.

Whether signing manifestos, donating works for auctions, or making public statements, he was actively involved in the civil movements that were fighting for the return of democratic freedoms in Brazil.

On January 20, the University of Brasilia awarded him an honorary doctorate. He was made a Commander of the Order of Rio Branco by the president of Brazil. He also received a Special Merit award from the Brasilia Alvorada Rotary Club.

He made a lacquered wooden panel for the Ministry of Health Library and a decorative panel for the lobby of the Libertas Building, both in Brasilia.

He was promoted to the rank of Grand Officer of the Order of Rio Branco. In 2007, he attended the unveiling of the panel at the Piantella restaurant. This panel was a replica of the demolished relief at the Congress Club Headquarters.

 
He attended the new unveiling of the tiled panel and the mural—both his work—at the Brasilia Palace Hotel. The originals were destroyed in the 1978 fire that left the building in ruins.

On July 31, 2008, he died aged 90 at the Sarah Kubitschek Hospital in Brasilia. He was being treated for Parkinson's disease and he passed away following a cardio-respiratory arrest.

Athos Bulcão was awarded the Order of Cultural Merit for the second time by the president of Brazil. The Ministry of Culture awarded him the Grand Cross in an in memoriam tribute.

The Athos Bulcão: Composer of Spaces exhibition was held at Brasilia's National Museum (Museu Nacional do Conjunto Cultural da República), the first in memoriam tribute to the artist. His work was included as obligatory content for the early grades of elementary school in the Federal District.

His entire work in Brasilia was protected by decree no. 31,067, dated November 23.    

To commemorate the centenary of the artist's birth, the 100 Years of Athos Bulcão,  exhibition was held. On display were over 300 pieces, covering not just his tile work but also his entire multifaceted artistic creation.