For a city to be able to say that it has an art scene, different types of spaces are needed for artists and their works to be practiced and circulated. Beyond the official walls of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes, a series of initiatives would make the 1910s and 1920s a decisive period in this expansion of the visual arts in Rio. The growing number of participants in this field across various areas — painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving, graphic art, criticism, and teaching — meant that new spaces had to be created to absorb this diversity.
One of these initiatives to popularize Rio's visual arts was created in 1916 by Levino Fânzeres. A painter already with some fame in his time (he won the prize for a trip abroad at the 1912 General Exhibition of Fine Arts), a former student of the Liceu de Artes e Ofício and the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes, he created a free school of painting. Named Colmeia de Pintores do Brasil, its promotional pamphlet defined it as "a group of artists to stimulate, spread, and shape aspects and perspectives of Brazil through drawing, painting, and related arts."
Image description: This is a painting depicting a natural landscape. On the left side, there is a mountain in shades of gray and blue. At its foot, there is a green area with dense vegetation. From the middle of the image onward, the landscape changes to a sandy area in shades of beige and brown. In the center, there is a strip of lighter vegetation. The background consists of a light blue sky with some diffuse clouds. In the lower left corner, there is a red signature that reads "LEV FANZERES".Levino Fânzeres, “Marinha”
Inspired both by the experiences of the Grimm Group in Niterói and by his classes at the Académie Julian in Paris, Colmeia operated in open spaces such as Quinta da Boa Vista, with its headquarters nearby, on Rua Guruzu, São Januário. The teacher and his group also held their open-air classes in other spaces around the city, such as Passeio Público and Floresta da Tijuca. Its long duration (more than seventy years) meant that a hundred artists passed through its courses, some with great distinction, such as Ivan Serpa, Garcia Bento, Ismael Nery, Almir Mavignier, and Arpad Szenes.
Image description: This is a painting depicting two human figures in an urban setting. The figure on the left is wearing a white dress with red dots and holding a blue floral object. The figure on the right is wearing a red dress with yellow details. Both are in a setting with blue walls and an open window in the background."Namorados", 1927 - óleo sobre tela de Ismael Nery, um dos alunos da Colmeia de Pintores do Brasil. Wikimedia Commons
In 1919, another independent initiative took place in the city. Raul Pederneiras, a draftsman and caricaturist, and Rodolfo Chambel suggested to the group of artists who had been organizing the Centro Artístico Juventus since 1910 that they change its name to Sociedade Brasileira de Belas Artes. Still in existence today, in its early days it encompassed both the teaching of artistic practices and public debates on the formation of an art market in the country. Initially operating out of the premises of the Liceu de Artes e Ofício, it later settled on Rua Uruguaiana, then on Rua México, and finally on Rua do Lavradio, in Lapa. Its mission of upholding the teaching of techniques tied to the academic aspect of the fine arts, in the midst of an era of modernisms and avant-gardes, did not keep it from playing an active role during its golden age.
