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Modesto Brocos y Gómez (9 February 1852 – 28 November 1936) was a Spanish painter and engraver, who became a naturalized Brazilian citizen. His work covers a wide variety of styles and subjects, and he was the author of several books on painting. He is also notable for his promotion of
printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techni ...
in Brazil, especially
woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only t ...
s, of which he had been one of his adopted country's first major practitioners during his time at ''O Mequetrefe''.


Biography

He was born in
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...
, Galicia, Spain, into a humble family with artistic inclinations. His grandfather and father were writers and his brother was the sculptor ,DezenoveVinte:
''Modesto Brocos: A Retórica dos Pintores'', by José Luiz da Silva Nunes.
who was also his first teacher at the Academia de Belas Artes in
A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and ...
. At the age of eighteen, after completing his studies, he moved to Argentina, but wasn't successful there. Two years later he moved to Brazil, where he eventually found work in Rio de Janeiro illustrating the mildly satirical weekly republican magazine ''O Mequetrefe'' (a term that describes a nosy person who is a bit of a scamp). This income enabled him to enter the
Academia Imperial de Belas Artes The Imperial Academy of Fine Arts ('' pt, Academia Imperial de Belas Artes'') was an institution of higher learning in the arts in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, established by King João VI. Despite facing many initial difficulties, the Academy was ...
, where he studied under Victor Meirelles and João Zeferino da Costa.Biography
@ the Enciclopédia Itaú Cultural.
After two years there, he moved to Paris, enrolled at the
École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...
and took lessons from Henri Lehmann. Dissatisfied with what he was being taught, he moved on to Madrid, where he studied briefly at the
Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando (RABASF; ), located on the Calle de Alcalá in the heart of Madrid, currently functions as a museum and gallery. A public law corporation, it is integrated together with other Spanish royal acad ...
), then in 1883 to Rome, after receiving a fellowship from the government of A Coruña. Once there, he worked with his countryman, Francisco Pradilla and spent five years at the Accademia Chigi. By 1890, he was exhibiting at the
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ...
and felt that his education was complete, so he accepted an invitation to teach at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes (successor to the Imperial Academy) from its Director, Rodolfo Bernardelli. He was able to become a naturalized citizen with little difficulty, and was appointed Professor of Figurative Drawing there, a position he held for the rest of his life, with a brief leave of absence to create some decorations for the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. Brocos died in Rio de Janeiro on 28 November 1936.


References


Further reading


Books by Brocos

* ''A questão do ensino de Bellas Artes'', 1915. Catalog entry @ the Biblioteca Centra

* ''Viaje a Marte'', Edit. Arte y Letras, 1930 @ Google Book

* ''Retórica dos pintores'', Typ. D’A Industria do Livro, 1933


Others

* Francisco Pablos, ''Pintores gallegos del novecientos : Serafín Avendaño, Modesto Brocos, Roman Navarro ...'', A Coruña, Fundación Pedro Barrié de la Maza : Editorial Atlántico, 1981


External links


ArtNet: More works by Brocos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brocos, Modesto 1852 births 1936 deaths 19th-century Brazilian painters 19th-century Brazilian male artists 20th-century Brazilian painters 20th-century Brazilian male artists 19th-century Spanish painters 19th-century Spanish male artists 20th-century Spanish painters 20th-century Spanish male artists Brazilian people of Galician descent Naturalized citizens of Brazil People from Santiago de Compostela