This is one of the most complete studies on the work of Telles Júnior. Dated 1926 during a debate on regionalism begun in the state by Gilberto Freyre [see in the ICAA digital archive “Manifesto Regionalista de 1926” (doc. no. 1074787)]. This essay is of interest because it illustrates the romanticism at the core of regionalism.
An important artist of the 19th century, [Jerônimo José] Telles Júnior (1851?1914) dedicated himself almost exclusively to the representation of his environment through landscape, although he did so with an intensity of movement that was uncommon in the art of the time, always referencing landscape artists from the 17th century (Frans Post, among others). His work took on greater importance as it influenced a generation of later artists linked to the Escola de Belas Artes de Pernambuco: Balthazar da Câmara or Mário Nunes.
Published in Recife (capital of the state of Pernambuco), under the editorial leadership of José Maria de Albuquerque e Mello, the Revista do Norte was a vehicle for the dissemination of “modernist” ideas in the state, especially in the literary field. It circulated in three distinct periods: the first (bi-weekly) corresponds to the years 1923?25. In 1927, the magazine published a special issue that was sent to the greatest poet of the city, Manoel Bandeira. The third series of the magazine began in April 1942 and was published sporadically: a second issue in December 1944; third and fourth issues in 1947, and finally, a last issue in 1952. Revista do Norte had variable print runs but was put together with great skill and invention; it included very different contributors (artists, illustrators, and theoreticians) and it maintained contact and exchange with other similar publications in Brazil.
