In this text, painter Candido Portinari analyzes the Salão de 31 organized during the tenure of Lucio Costa as director of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio de Janeiro. In Portinari’s view, Costa’s modernizing project as the head of that institution was nothing short of revolutionary as he turned a fifty-year tradition in Brazilian visual arts around with a truly artistic event that addressed debates about modern art. Portinari goes on to criticize earlier editions of the salon, which he claims were characterized by academism, outdated formulas, and shameless self-promotion. He illustrates his point by citing the medals and trips awarded that ended up curtailing any attempt to instill innovation even on the part of Brazilian artists who returned to the country with new visions. In closing, Portinari underscores the fact that Costa has eschewed these practices, and in so doing, placed the ENBA on a path worthy of the times. 

From the thirties through the mid-fifties, painter Candido Portinari (1902–1963), along with Emiliano Di Cavalcanti (1897–1976), was a central figure in Brazilian art even though both supporters of academic art and advocates of abstraction disputed his status.

The Salão de 31 (also known as the 38a. Exposição de Belas Artes), held at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes in 1931—during the brief tenure of architect Lucio Costa as head of that institution—represented a major transformation in Brazilian art because it forged a place for modern art in Brazilian art institutions.

In 1930, as the director of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes, French-born Brazilian architect and urban planner Lúcio Costa (1902–1998) proposed certain changes to the art and architecture curriculum in order to facilitate access by modern artists to the 1931 Salão Nacional de Belas Artes. In 1934, he was invited to head the commission that would design the building to house the Ministério da Educação e Saúde (MES) located in downtown Rio de Janeiro. The commission would consult Swiss architect, designer, and urban planner Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, 1887–1965) on technical matters.

[For further information on Candido Portinari and the ENBA, see the following entries in the ICAA digital archives: “Uma escola viva de Belas Artes “(doc. no. 1075423) y “O Salão” (doc. no. 784285)].