MORRO DO CARECA PAINTED BY ANTONIO PARREIRAS

ANTONIO PARREIRAS (1860-1937)

Morro do Careca (120 m - 390 ft)

Brazil 

 In  Ponta negra, oil on canvas, 1930, Museu Antonio Parreiras

The mountain 

Morro Do Carreca (120 m - 390 ft) It is the main symbol and a common sight on tourist postcards of the city and the state of Rio Grande do Norte,  located in the extreme south of Ponta Negra, the capital's most famous beach. In the past Morro do Careca was a spot for recreation and entertainment. The bathers and tourists would climb up the hill and come down with the help of a device called skibunda. Since the end of the 1990s, it has been closed to visitors. The reason for the closure is the dune's protection; the preservation of forest will aid in safeguarding against erosion, ensuring that the sand does not slip and thus reduce the height of the hill. At present, all activity on the dune remains suspended.

The painter 

Antonio Diogo da Silva Parreiras was a Brazilian painter, designer and illustrator.  In 1882, he enrolled at the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro, but left two years later to attend the free painting classes being offered by the German immigrant artist Georg Grimm.  In 1885, when Grimm left to work in the countryside, Parreiras became an autodidact. A year later, one of his works was purchased by Emperor Pedro II. This allowed him to resume his formal studies and travel to Europe in 1888, entering the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia where his teacher was Filippo Carcano.  Upon his return to Brazil two years later, he participated in the "Exposiaгo Gerais de Belas Artes". Later that same year, he became a Professor of landscape painting at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes (ENBA) and, following the example set by Grimm, introduced his students to plein-air painting.  Following disagreements with ENBA over changes in the curriculum, he set up his own school called the " Escola do Ar Livre".

He was soon doing much of his work in the forests outside Teresуpolis. He also received numerous commissions to paint historical scenes and, after 1899, did decorations for the government in public buildings, such as the "Allegory of Apollo and the Goddesses of the Hours", which he created for the Palбcio da Liberdade in Belo Horizonte. His female nudes are also considered to be especially well done. From 1906 to 1919, he maintained a second studio in Paris and exhibited at the Salon.  He was also named a delegate of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1911.

In 1925 he was chosen as Brazil's best artist by the readers of Fon-Fon, a magazine created by art critic Gonzaga Duque. The following year, he published his autobiography and was inducted into the "Academia Fluminense de Letras". Four years after his death, his former studio became the Museu Antonio Parreiras.