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Enthusiastic drawing by the controversial Minas Gerais sculptor Alfredo Ceschiatti, a constant partner of Oscar Niemeyer.
- Drawing with a dedication from the sculptor Alfredo Ceschiatti.
- For D. Maria José or Zezé, as she was known.
- Date and location unknown.
- 26 cm x 21 cm.
- Excellent state of conservation.
- Unique piece.
Alfredo Ceschiatti (1918 - 1989) was a sculptor from Minas Gerais, of international fame. He primarily explored the female figure, represented with pure and rounded forms. His first trip to Italy in 1938 was decisive in the admiration he felt for the works of Renaissance masters.
For me, Italy was a shock. (...) Ultimately, Michelangelo taught me my whole life; he was my great emotion.
This influence also explains the almost always monumental character of his works. Each sculpture took him two to three months, from the first study to the casting, done by specialized assistants.
I think a lot about where it will be placed; that's my starting point, and I prefer large outdoor pieces, where there's more possibility to explore planes, shadows, lights. I'd like to make even larger sculptures, like Christ the Redeemer, which I think is a beautiful work. I don't think sculpture should be a small decorative object. It needs to have a more monumental sense.
Indeed, in 1943, Alfredo Ceschiatti began his collaboration on Oscar Niemeyer's revolutionary projects, for which the mayor of Belo Horizonte, Juscelino Kubitschek, commissioned the Pampulha Lagoon complex. This was the beginning of the trajectory that would make the architect an internationally renowned professional. Ceschiatti undertook the bas-relief of the Pampulha Church, which won an award, taking the power of the Sistine Chapel as an inspiring source. He also sculpted "O Abraço" (The Embrace), a work depicting two embracing women, considered immoral by the traditional Minas Gerais family of the time: it was kept for many years until it was finally exhibited in a garden in Pampulha.
In 1960, he completed The Three Armed Forces, the theme of the Monument to the Dead of World War II, in Rio de Janeiro, certainly becoming one of his most well-known works.
The partnership with Oscar Niemeyer reached its peak with the creation of Brasília, where the sculptor's work accompanied the architect's: "Banhistas" (Bathers) at Palácio da Alvorada, "Justiça" (Justice) at the Supreme Federal Court, "Duas Irmãs" (Two Sisters) at Itamarati, or "Evangelistas e Anjos" (Evangelists and Angels) at the Brasília Cathedral were works by Alfredo Ceschiatti.
Niemeyer said of him: “Like two good friends, we go through life. I, absorbed by architecture, inventing forms, playing with reinforced concrete; he, making his sculptures. These beautiful, baroque women, full of curves. How I love to see them.”
"D. Maria José or Zezé, as she was known, was an Art educator, a pioneering professor at UNB, stepping away in the 70s, in solidarity with colleagues persecuted by the dictatorship. She founded the Escola Classe da 104 Sul and was a great friend of the artist, among others like Oscar Niemeyer and Athos Bulcão," wrote a visitor to the Glórias collection, Claudio Pereira, whom we thank for this information.
Documents by the sculptor are mainly preserved by his family and public institutions; this enthusiastic drawing is a rarity.
