Willys de Castro (b. 1926; d. 1988) was a poet and an acclaimed graphic artist, industrial designer, set designer, and magazine publisher. His works are part of the Adolpho Leirner Collection of Brazilian Constructive Art. At this eighth edition of São Paulo’s annual Modern art event, his presence at a visual level cannot be denied.
The list of exhibited works includes many by well-known veterans of this event, such as Bonadei, Di Prete, Wladyslaw, and Arnaldo Ferrari. In the area devoted to those who, one way or another, are involved in the Constructive art movement (with paintings by Judith Lauand, Leopoldo Raimo, and Willys de Castro), there are drawings by Hércules Barsotti and Lothar Charoux, and “linear structures” by Maurício Nogueira Lima. The latter artist is also represented (together with the Grostein & Begner team) in the architecture category with a residence and a Capilla en Caraguatatuba.
This eighth edition of the Salão also includes two figurative paintings by Oswald de Andrade Filho, the son of the radical writer who introduced Brazil to literary modernity in the Semana de 22. Arcângelo Ianelli, who went on to gain acclaim in the 1970s, and Wega (Nery), were among the emerging painters who were then, in 1959, just getting started. The flier also provides a list, in alphabetical order, of prizewinning artists at previous Salãos.