“Many would like to possess you as a woman, attractive as you are, driven simply by the desire for ephemeral possession.”

• Unpublished handwritten letter from José Pancetti to Stela, with a drawing.
• One page.
• In Portuguese.
• 20.3 cm x 25.7 cm.
• January 15, 1949.
• Excellent condition of conservation.
• Unique piece.

Transcription

[?] 15/1/949

STELA

Many would like to possess you as a woman
attractive that you are, driven simply by the
desire for ephemeral possession, to have you as a wife
or lifelong companion, but
always with the same purpose. And if this happens,
almost always, with the human totality.
I say I wouldn't like to own you
in the same way because I am also
a man. But what is more profound
It moves me and I would like to have you, constantly
fearfully, as an inspiring source of my
art: I would love you always every time
more and like no one else ever was
able to worship you. And with that of yours
simple, [?] and strange figure
I would then create a world of colors and
new forms where your [?]
eternity!

Jose Pancetti

In this small excerpt from a brief love letter, José Pancetti (1902 - 1958), a modernist painter considered one of Brazil's greatest landscape artists, declares the beauty of his beloved Stela. This beauty, however, will always be a secret to us, since Pancetti did not reveal the face of his Stela in his paintings. Even so, we know that the feeling that moved the painter was not an ephemeral desire.

They say that every great artist has a great muse. Although we cannot generalize, this fruitful relationship marked the production of many talented creators in the history of humanity. In addition to Pancetti and Stela, there are many other examples. Picasso is also known for his inspiring muses. The women in his life played a fundamental role in his artistic legacy, and he portrayed his models and lovers in his paintings. Gala Éluard Dalí, wife of the great Salvador Dalí, is another example of a muse. This strong woman did not only captivate her husband, immersed in the Surrealist Movement, the Russian woman captivated artists such as Éluard, whom she also married, as well as Max Ernst and André Breton.

The beauty of the bond between the artist and the muse does not depend on the relationship they have maintained; it is born from the perpetuity of this union, and goes beyond the face that is revealed on a canvas. Pancetti, in this exceptional declaration to his beloved Stela, confessed: “But what moves me most deeply and what I would like to have is to have you, constantly, as a source of inspiration for my art.” And so the artist did, transforming his feeling into something perpetual in a world of colors and shapes, and immortalizing his secret and dreamed Stela.