Décio Rodrigues Villares (1 December 1851, in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

– 21 June 1931, in Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazilian painter, sculptor,

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * Al ...

, and graphic designer. He is best known for helping to design the blue disc on the

Brazilian Flag The national flag of Brazil ( pt, bandeira do Brasil), is a blue disc depicting a starry sky (which includes the Southern Cross) spanned by a curved band inscribed with the national motto "''Ordem e Progresso''" ("Order and Progress"), within a ...

and his designs for the monument honoring

Júlio de Castilhos Júlio de Castilhos is a municipality of the central part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The population is 19,224 (2020 est.) in an area of 1,929.38 km². Its elevation is 529 m (Praça "João Vieira de Alvarenga"), 516 m at the ...

Biography

His father, José Rodrigues Villares, was a Lieutenant Colonel, a member of the

Nova Iguaçu Nova Iguaçu (, locally: or , ''New Iguaçu'') is a municipality in Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil. Location The city is named after the Iguaçu River that runs through it and empties into Guanabara Bay (not to be confused with the Iguaçu R ...

city council, and a participant in the Liberal rebellions of 1842. Although his family was not wealthy, they were politically connected (his uncle, Manoel Rodrigues Villares (1804-1878), served as a Minister of the Supreme Federal Court), so he was able to gain entrance to the

Colégio Pedro II Colégio Pedro II is a traditional federal public school, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the third oldest active college in the country, after Ginásio Pernambucano and Atheneu Norte-Riograndense. The school was created ...

and 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 e ...

. There, he studied with

Victor Meirelles Victor Meirelles de Lima (18 August 1832 – 22 February 1903) was a Brazilian painter and teacher who is best known for his works relating to his nation's culture and history. From humble origins, his talent was soon recognized, being admitted as ...

and

Pedro Américo Pedro Américo de Figueiredo e Melo (29 April 1843 – 7 October 1905) was a Brazilian novelist, poet, scientist, art theorist, essayist, philosopher, politician and professor, but is best remembered as one of the most important academic painters ...

. In 1870, he began providing caricatures for the satirical magazine, ''Comédia Social'', published by Américo and his younger brother, , who was also a student there at that time. For unknown reasons, he was frequently absent from his classes, did not participate in exhibitions and did not compete for the travel scholarship. Eventually, he dropped out.Elisabete Da Costa Leal, ''Os filósofos em tintas e bronze: arte, positivismo e política na obra de Décio Villares e Eduardo de Sá'' UFRJ, 200
Online
/ref> For the next nine years, he travelled, initially (1872) to Paris. There, he studied in the workshops of

Alexandre Cabanel Alexandre Cabanel (; 28 September 1823 – 23 January 1889) was a French painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. According to ''Diccionario Enciclopedi ...

. In 1874, he was awarded a gold medal 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 ( ...

for his painting of

Paolo Malatesta Paolo Malatesta (; – 1285), also known as il Bello ('the Beautiful'), was the third son of Malatesta da Verucchio, lord of Rimini. He is best known for the story of his affair with Francesca da Polenta, portrayed by Dante in a famous episode ...

and

Francesca da Rimini Francesca da Rimini or Francesca da Polenta (died between 1283 and 1286) was a medieval noblewoman of Ravenna, who was murdered by her husband, Giovanni Malatesta, upon his discovery of her affair with his brother, Paolo Malatesta. She was a co ...

, which was praised by the notoriously difficult-to-please art critic, . During that period, he was first exposed to the positivist philosophy of

Auguste Comte Isidore Marie Auguste François Xavier Comte (; 19 January 1798 – 5 September 1857) was a French philosopher and writer who formulated the doctrine of positivism. He is often regarded as the first philosopher of science in the modern sense ...

and abandoned Catholicism. This would result in his being rejected for a teaching position at the

Académie des Beaux-Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. He then went from Paris to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

, where Pedro Américo maintained a studio. He may have studied sculpture with Rodolfo Bernardelli. It is not known exactly how long he stayed in Italy, although letters indicate that he was still there in 1878. It is possible that he returned briefly to France. What is known for certain is that he returned to Brazil in 1881. Soon after, he and Aurélio de Figueiredo received a major commission: eighteen paintings of the Aimoré people for display at the Brazilian Anthropological Exhibition of 1882; made from sketches and photographs. The general publicity accorded to the exhibition enabled him to establish himself and launch a successful career. In 1887, he and

José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior (8 May 1850 – 13 November 1899), commonly known as Almeida Júnior, was a Brazilian artist and designer; one of the first there to paint in the Realistic tradition of Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet. ...

were chosen to replace Victor Meirelles in the history painting department at the Academia Imperial, but they never did. Three years later, he and De Figueiredo were part of a group that presented a proposal for a new method of teaching that would emphasize the master/apprentice relationship and abolish the Academia. In 1901, he married Maria Dolores de Souza Martins. They received both Catholic and positivist rites (what the positivists called a "mixed marriage") but, following positivist practice, declared their desire for "eternal widowhood". It proved to be a difficult marriage. She was addicted to

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies ('' Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...

and, once, in a drug-induced haze, set their apartment on fire. She was arrested and sent to a sanatorium and Villares, who was on a lengthy business trip, allowed her to stay there. After a year, she charged him with psychological cruelty, abandonment and theft of her family inheritance. Despite this, they never had a formal separation. When he was forced to be away from home, she was watched over by members of the Positivist Church. When he died, in 1931, she burned down his studio. Julio-de-Castilhos monument-2

Much of his work was funded by the Positivist Church; including a medallion, to be placed on the grave of

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the c ...

, and a monument to

Benjamin Constant Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (; 25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Franco-Swiss political thinker, activist and writer on political theory and religion. A committed republican from 1795, he backed t ...

. Although he has often received little credit, he participated in the creation of the Brazilian flag, conceived by

Raimundo Teixeira Mendes Raimundo Teixeira Mendes (5 January 1855 – 28 June 1927) was a Brazilian philosopher and mathematician. He is credited with creating the national motto, "Order and Progress", as well as the national flag on which it appears. Teixeira M ...

(a member of the Positivist Church); helping to design the blue disc and the placement of the words "

Ordem e Progresso The national flag of Brazil ( pt, bandeira do Brasil), is a blue disc depicting a starry sky (which includes the Southern Cross) spanned by a curved band inscribed with the national motto "''Ordem e Progresso''" ("Order and Progress"), within a y ...

". He also painted the prototype that was used by the seamstresses who made the first flags. The painting was stolen in 2010 and has not been recovered. He may have served as the inspiration for Julião Vilela, a character in ''Mocidade Morta'', a novel by the art critic,

Gonzaga Duque Luís Gonzaga Duque Estrada, known as Gonzaga Duque (21 June 1863, Rio de Janeiro - 29 September 1911, Rio de Janeiro) was a Brazilian writer and critic. He was of Swedish descent on his father's side. Life and work After completing his primary ...

, who felt that Villares made poor aesthetic choices and never lived up to his potential.Gonzaga Duque, ''A arte brasileira''. Campinas: Mercado de Letras, 1995. p. 189

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villares, Decio 1851 births 1931 deaths Brazilian painters Brazilian sculptors Brazilian caricaturists Positivists Flag designers Artists from Rio de Janeiro (city)

Biography

References

Further reading

External links