Nilo de Brito Firmeza (Estrigas) (b. 1919) was born in Fortaleza (capital of the Northeastern State of Ceará), where he lives and works as a painter, illustrator, and art critic.
Artist, art critic and historian Mário Baratta (1914–83) was born in Rio de Janeiro. He moved to Fortaleza in 1932 where, over time, he became an emblematic local figure. As an artist and critic, he played an important role contributing to the ideas that helped form the local art movements at the time. He also helped found the Centro Cultural de Belas Artes de Fortaleza (Fine Arts Cultural Center of Fortaleza). The Center hosted the first group exhibitions in the city, such as the Salão Cearense de Pintura, in 1941, and the Salão de Abril, in 1943. Due to financial difficulties, the Center closed its doors in 1944. During that same year, the Sociedade Cearense de Artes Plásticas (SCAP) (Fine Arts Society of Ceará) was founded to replace the Center, and in 1946 SCAP was able to give continuity to the Center’s group exhibition programming by hosting the Salão de Abril, which has since become one of the most traditional events of its kind in the country. The Salão de Abril was created to highlight the work of local artists as they responded and collaborated with art movements embraced by other artists in different regions in the country.
[For texts authored by Mario Baratta, see in the ICAA digital archive: “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)].
