In this overview of the national art scene, Marcelo Santos notes that art in the state of Pernambuco is facing a difficult time, partly as a result of the migration of artists from northeastern to southern Brazil (mainly to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro). This “exodus creates precarious circumstances for artists living in the state capital (Recife) and threatens artistic values in their home state.” Santos identifies some of the important factors that would contribute to a flourishing of the arts: a keen interest in art among the general public; intellectual maturity; respect for tradition; government support, and so on. He analyzes the arts in Pernambuco during the twentieth century from a sociological perspective based on the aspects mentioned above. He lists important artists who work in this state, as follows: J. Evan; Carlos Fredricko and João Ferreira Vilela (photographers); the Frenchman Vauthier and Luiz Nunes (architects); Manoel Bandeira (poet); he also mentions the following visual artists: Júnior, Murilo La Greca, Mário Nunes, Álvaro Amorim, Percy Lao, Lula Cardoso Ayres, Aloisio Magalhães (designer), Reynaldo Fonseca, Francisco Brennand, Gilvan Samico, João Câmara, Cícero Dias, and Vicente do Rêgo Monteiro. He credits the latter two with putting Pernambuco on the international art stage during their time in France, as well as promoting the state’s artistic revival from the 1920s to the 1950s.  

This is a brief overview of the arts in the state of Pernambuco in the twentieth century. The essay was written as part of a grant focused on the visual arts in that area of northeastern Brazil (1978), and sheds light on the challenges facing artistic development anywhere but the major urban centers of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.