In 1988 the art critic Mário Baratta described the origins and performance of the group of artists and writers who produced Clã [Clan] magazine and founded the SCAP (Sociedade Cearense de Artes Plásticas) in the mid-1940s in the state of Ceará. Baratta believes that both the magazine and the association were an important “cultural expression of a particular period” in the overall cultural and artistic development of this state in northeastern Brazil. They each contributed to the artistic mindset that reflected the general outlook of that period. A true aesthetic was certainly forged in Fortaleza, the state capital of a remote “province” that was far from the political-economic centers of the country. According to the author, that aesthetic inspires the poems of Antonio Girão Barroso, the sonnets of Otacílio Soares, and the paintings of Aldemir Martins, Antonio Bandeira, Inimá de Paula, and Jean-Pierre Chabloz.

The SCAP (Sociedade Cearense de Artes Plásticas) was founded in 1944, in Fortaleza, originally as a studio and later as a meeting place for local artists and critics. The organization subsequently broadened its horizons and sought to encourage and promote artists with a range of activities that included Salons, exhibitions, talks, and art classes. In 1958 the SCAP contributed to the promotion of modern art in the state of Ceará by pairing authors such as Mário Baratta with artists of some renown such as Antonio Bandeira, Inimá de Paula, and Aldemir Martins. The group spawned the CLA (Clube de Literatura e Artes), and that acronym became the name of Clã magazine which, over the course of four decades (1946–88), published articles about literature, the visual arts, theater, and film. 

[For more information about the SCAP, see by Baratta in the ICAA digital archive “Aldemir Martins e a pintura” (doc. no. 1110782); “Exposição cearense” (doc. no. 1111388); “Pincéis e violinos” (doc. no. 1110784); and the letter from Mario de Andrade (doc. no. 1110783). See also the following articles by members of the group and the magazine team such as José Roberto Teixeira Leite, “Raimundo Cela: um pioneiro esquecido” (doc. no. 1110790); and by Ronaldo Brito “Trágico moderno” (doc. no. 1110423). See also by Vera Lúcia Alburquerque de Moraes “Abrindo a revista” (doc. no. 1110770); by Aluízio Medeiros “Uma exposição e a história de dois grupos” (doc. no. 1110776); and by Barboza Leite (untitled) [“A arte preside o destino da humanidade (…)”] (doc. no. 1110786)].