BernardelliGroup

At the outbreak of the modernisms of the 1920s, the avant-garde impetus that fueled its earliest moments was closely tied to a series of biographies whose financial means allowed for in loco contact with the novelties of European art. In the following decade, the cultural capital of the coffee aristocracies gave way to another vision of what a modernity with a Brazilian face looked like. Instead of leaving the country to engage, vis a vis, with the novelties of the moment, a generation of young painters emerged linked to the urban themes of a country in expansion, with conflicts and achievements in its political and social dimension.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a group of people standing and sitting. In the upper section, six men are standing, all wearing classic suits. From the left, the first man is holding a musical instrument. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are written above each person, possibly indicating their position or identification. In the lower section, five men are seated in chairs, also wearing suits. Everyone appears to be in a room with a dark floor.

In Rio de Janeiro, this period's shift toward an art that was simultaneously sophisticated and popular found its most powerful expression in the artists of the Núcleo Bernardelli. Named after the surname of two artists whose contribution to the arts of Rio had already begun decades earlier — the brothers Rodolfo and Henrique Bernardelli — the Núcleo was founded on June 12, 1931, and remained active over the following two decades. The pair of brothers received this tribute for their working relationship with, and dissent from, the academic practices of the former Academia Imperial de Belas Artes. Both of them, moreover, had already had a similar experience leading an independent movement of painters back in the late 19th century. Led by the pioneering initiative of the painter Edson Motta, the Núcleo brought together numerous artists, many of them anonymous and popular figures, and others who would go on to great prominence, such as Milton Dacosta, Manoel Santiago, Bustamante Sá, João José Rescala, Quirino Campofiorito, José Pancetti, Yoshia Takaoka, Bruno Lechowski, and Joaquim Tenreiro.

Image description: This is a painting depicting an urban landscape. On the left side, we see a series of industrial buildings with smoke rising from them. Moving toward the right, we find green areas and residential buildings. In the background, there is a panoramic view of a city with various houses and buildings. The horizon is covered by a light haze, giving the scene a bluish tone. The predominant colors are shades of green, gray, and blue. There is no visible text in the image.

The Núcleo Bernardelli, therefore, was an active group of young painters, mostly lower-middle-class, immigrants, or people without resources, who formed a collective aimed at simultaneously introducing modern precepts into teaching and helping new painters get into the Salons of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes, which was still closed to the transformations of that period. In the same year that Lúcio Costa's small revolution at the helm of that same institution was abruptly interrupted (he had taken over as president in 1930 and was dismissed the following year) and that Rodolfo Bernardelli passed away, the Núcleo was born out of beer-fueled conversations at the city's cafés – such as Café Assyrio and Café Chic – and initially settled in the photographic studio of Nicolas Alagernovitz, on Rua Alcindo Guanabara. Soon after, it obtained – as a favor from the Minister of Education and Health, Belisário Penna – a room in the basement of the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes building. Until 1941, the year the Núcleo disbanded, it would still pass through spaces on Rua São José and in Praça Tiradentes.

The group was decisive in transforming art courses, working innovatively with live models, promoting evening classes (which allowed workers to attend them), and free classes around the city with visits to the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói, spaces that became themes of their canvases. The intention of the Núcleo was to professionalize amateurs, providing them with techniques and visibility. They held five Salões between 1932 and 1941, giving Rio de Janeiro its first modern collective of artists whose goal, more than prizes and trips, was to make painting viable as a profession.

Image description: This is a painting depicting an urban landscape with rows of houses and a fortress in the background. On the left side, we see buildings with red roofs and light-colored walls. Moving toward the right, we notice more houses and buildings, some with darker roofs. In the center, there is a structure that appears to be a tower or part of a fortress, distinguished by its height and gray color. In the background, we see a line of trees and a larger fortress, with towers and walls, situated atop a cliff. The horizon is made up of mountains covered in green vegetation. The predominant color is blue, representing the sky and the sea, while green and yellow appear in the foliage of the trees.

In 1935, however, the Núcleo suffered a severe blow when it was invaded by a fascist group linked to the Ação Integralista Brasileira. The president of ENBA, Archimedes Memória, incited students at the School linked to the academic tradition to invade and vandalize the Núcleo's room, whose works there were largely destroyed. The reaction of the "nucleanos" (as they were called) prevented something worse, but the episode remained etched in the memory of that period. With the invasion, backed by critics with fascist leanings in the newspapers (the period marked the international peak of totalitarian movements in Europe), the Núcleo ended up being evicted from its address on Rua México and began wandering between different addresses, without resources, gradually coming to an end by 1941.

Image description: This is a painting depicting a coastal scene. On the left side, we see a blue boat with red details, resting on the sand. In front of it, there are red crates and a fisherman's bag. In the center, three human figures are talking near a small red stall. In the background, there are more boats and a white building with a red roof. The sky is cloudy, giving the scene a gray tone.

Regardless, the action of Núcleo Bernardelli is one of the main collective activities of Rio's art scene of all time, engaging in dialogue with or inspiring other similar movements in the country, such as the Santa Helena group in São Paulo. As a concrete achievement of their political efforts, they were responsible for securing the creation of the Modern Division of the Salão Nacional, a struggle that spanned decades until finally obtaining a Salão dedicated exclusively to Modern Art. The success of the professional efforts of some names from Núcleo, international trips, and changes in the field of art naturally brought the collective's activity to an end.