For São Paulo writer Sérgio Milliet [da Costa e Silva] (1898–1966), an artwork was as much a real object as an ideal aspiration. Commenting on the artistic production of the 1930s, the author sees in his object the reflection of a generalized anarchy as well as a longing for “good,” and an ethical principle taking precedence over “beauty.”
Regarding the Salão de Maio, Milliet highlights the “social painting” of Lívio Abramo, Oswaldo Goeldi, and Lasar Segall; with reference to “ethnography and folklore,” he mentions the work of Alberto da Veiga Guignard, Orlando Teruz, Luiz Soares and Paulo Werneck; with regard to “religious spirit” he mentions Antonio Gomide; and finally, he identifies the paintings of Alfredo Volpi, Francisco Rebolo, Cícero Dias and the sculpture of Victor Brecheret as representing “the purest intention and achievement.”
Regarding the show of the Sindicato—an entity that did not represent any trend, but rather an organization of classes—Milliet highlights the works of Aldo Bonadei, Rebolo, Volpi, Waldemar da Costa, Clóvis Graciano and Joaquim Figueira, artists that worked “without any concessions whatsoever” and who [operated] in favor of “true art,” that “of the disinterested spirit.”