“I've been very neurotic and nervous, I think it's a sign of old age."

• Handwritten letter from Emiliano Di Cavalcanti to Gildo.
• A leaf.
• In Portuguese.
• 14 cm x 20 cm.
• Sao Paulo July 23, 1941.
• Perfect condition of conservation.
• Unique piece.

Transcription

Blue letterhead. Inside a rectangle with the image of a twin-engine plane the words: “BY PLANE VIA VASP”

Sao Paulo July 23, 1941

Ypiranga Avenue 480
PO Box 906

My dear Gildo

The day before yesterday I called you and replied to your letter urgently. I have already arranged to send and get my things, as my OLD grandmother, the mother of a father who was from the backlands of the Northeast, used to say. I would like you to tell me how much the possible packing or other additional expenses cost you. It is not necessary to add that I am very free and would like you to come and spend three days with me here in São Paulo. I am very neurasthenic and nervous, I believe that these are ailments of old age. And how are you? Write to me whenever you can. A big hug from yours

Di Cavalcanti (signed)
Remembrance to Ignez

Di Cavalcanti (1897 - 1976) was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1897, but his family's northeastern roots were always present in his work. However, his artistic life would take off when he moved to São Paulo, where he conceived and organized the Modern Art Week of 1922, at the Municipal Theater in the capital of São Paulo. This event inaugurated Modernism in Brazil, a movement that became a cultural reference of the 20th century.

Di Cavalcanti took advantage of the artistic freedom of this new way of thinking to construct, above all, a Brazilian art. He traveled to several European countries and was strongly influenced by German Expressionism and Cubism. However, with these references he portrayed characteristic Brazilian themes, such as carnivals, workers, favelas, and even the miscegenation of typical Brazilian races, which until then had been hidden behind an attempt to Europeanize the country.

Di Cavalcanti is undoubtedly an inspiring figure, but he also lived through difficult times. He was persecuted and imprisoned for his political beliefs in a Brazil convulsed by the totalitarian advance of Getúlio Vargas' Estado Novo. Once freed, he fled to Paris, from where he had to escape once again due to the Second World War. All these events, far beyond historical facts, had a profound impact on the artist's spirit, who suffered from the incidents around him.

In 1941, Cavalcanti wrote this letter to his friend Gildo, in which he reveals himself to be very neurasthenic and nervous, which he himself believed to be “ailments of age.” It is captivating and intriguing to discover, through the writings of these great personalities, confessions of their intimacy that demonstrate that they are more fragile and human than recorded in the history books.