This is a letter published in the newspaper O Estado by the art critic Mário Baratta, written posthumously to the modernist poet Mário de Andrade, a year after his death. Baratta wanted to convey to the reader a hypothetical letter that he would have written to this very important writer—a key organizer of the Semana de Arte Moderna of 1922—with the wish that he would still be alive in 1946. The fictitious letter by Baratta recounts the controversy that provoked the article published by the French artist André Lhote on matters relating to the education of arts and crafts, particularly directed at Brazilian modern artists engaging in arts and crafts. The letter ends with a list of prominent artists from the northeast, such as Barboza Leite, R. Kampos, and Antonio Bandeira, among others.

This text was originally published in the newspaper O Estado on March 3, 1946. Mário Baratta was born in Rio de Janeiro (1914−83) and relocated in 1932 to Fortaleza, in the state of Ceara, Brazil, becoming a “Cearense for life” and a local and cultural emblematic figure. He worked as an art critic and was key in the establishment of the Centro Cultural de Belas Artes in Fortaleza, an entity that was responsible for the first art exhibition halls, the Salão Cearense de Pintura in 1941, followed by the Salão de Abril in 1943. Due to financial problems in 1944, the SCAP (Sociedade Cearense de Artes Plásticas) was created in 1946 to revive the Salão de Abril, an event that featured local artists that were in dialogue with what was being produced artistically in Brazil, offering them national exposure.

[For additional reading, please refer to the ICAA digital archive for the following texts by Mário Baratta: “Aldemir Martins e a pintura” (doc. no. 1110782), “Antonio Bandeira e a pintura” (doc. no. 1110781), “De como deve ser visto o binômio Clã-SCAP” (doc. no. 1111385), “Exposição cearense” (doc. no. 1111388), “Pincéis e violinos” (doc. no. 1110784), and “II Salão de Abril” (doc. no.1111387)].