PalaceHotelandthePoliclínicaGeral

Two unusual spaces, however fundamental to Rio and Brazilian art in the city of Rio, were opened in the late 1910s – one in the lobby of a medical institution, and the other in the halls of a luxury hotel.

Image description: This is a historic black-and-white photograph of a large building located on a city corner. On the left side, we see a street with trees and some smaller buildings. In the center, the main building, the Palace Hotel, occupies the corner, with its classic design and architectural ornaments. On the right, there are more buildings and a square with trees. In the background, we see other buildings and an urban skyline.

In 1919, the Palace Hotel appeared in the city. Occupying an imposing building at Avenida Rio Branco on the corner of Almirante Barroso, its halls were a place of constant encounters between the city's politics, art, and social life. The hotel housed important initiatives such as the Associação de Artistas Brasileiros (AAB), founded by Celso Kelly, a Niterói native who worked in different artistic fields and in journalism. According to Kelly himself, the AAB was born in 1928, as a result of a protest movement against the countless cuts that the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes' Salão Oficial made that year.

Image description: This is a painting depicting a man in profile. The figure faces left, with dark, well-trimmed hair. He wears a white shirt with a tie knotted in an orange tone. The background is light blue, with some geometric elements and simple shapes.

The hotel became one of the city's leading galleries, hosting a series of modernist exhibitions (Lasar Segall and Tarsila do Amaral were among the names featured) and lectures on art and architecture. Among some of the standout events, notable mentions include the II Salão de novos artistas do Palace Hotel, held in 1926, at which the work of a young Cândido Portinari was introduced to Rio's residents. It was also there that American architect Frank Lloyd Wright gave a series of lectures to the general public, and where Di Cavalcanti and Ismael Nery organized the "Salão de Maio" in 1928, featuring an exhibition of modern drawings. In 1929, Nery and Portinari held their first solo exhibitions at the Palace Hotel, both organized by the AAB.

Another important space for the visual arts in this period of the first republic was the lobby of the Policlínica Geral do Rio de Janeiro, on Avenida Rio Branco at the corner with Rua São José. Perhaps one of the most important events held there occurred in 1928, with the Pernambuco-born artist Cícero Dias. The young painter settled in the city in 1925, and three years later he was exhibiting his first major works. After a conversation with the physician and intellectual Juliano Moreira, on the recommendation of Graça Aranha, Dias secured the space to display his work – drawings and paintings. Some of them were even sold to buyers such as Paulo Prado and Olivia Guedes Penteado. With strong surrealist tones, the exhibition made an impact (mainly negative) on local critics and drew the presence of an enthusiastic Manuel Bandeira and other artists from the city, such as Di, Nery, and Oswaldo Goeldi.

Image description: This is a painting depicting a city with various architectural and human elements. On the left side, we see a mountain and a tall building with many red windows. In the center, there is a structure with a tower and blue roof. On the right, there is a church with a dome and tower. In the foreground, there are blue trees and a house with a red roof. People are walking and vehicles are parked. At the bottom, there are signs and a monument with the word "Saz."