Volpi: Doxa, Permanence and Denegation in Brazilian Art Criticism

ABSTRACT

This paper is a genealogy of the arts critic which consecrated Brazilian artist Alfredo Volpi. The focus is in the 1940’s, when critic Mário de Andrade set the guidelines of the “Paulista Artistic Family”. By then, the Italian origin of Volpi, as other foreign influences in his art, were eclipsed. The myth of the painter who was a worker and an artisan was set, remaining alive until this date.

KEYWORDS:
art criticism; Alfredo Volpi; Mário de Andrade; Brazilian Modernism; Santa Helena Group