The Artist
Servulo Esmeraldo
The sculptor, printmaker, illustrator and painter Sérvulo Esmeraldo dedicated himself at the beginning of his artistic career to woodcut. Since 1947, in Fortaleza, he attended Sociedade Cearense de Artes Plásticas – SCAP and interacted with Antonio Bandeira and Aldemir Martins. During this period, he took painting classes with Jean-Pierre Chabloz. In 1951, he met Marcelo Grassmann and Lívio Abramo. In 1956, he founded the Museu da Gravura (Engraving Museum), in his hometown, Crato, in Ceará. In 1957, he held an individual exposition at the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo – MAM/SP and traveled to Europe with a scholarship by the French government. The first years in which he lived in France were for learning, initiation in the techniques of metal engraving and woodcut. He studied Lithography at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and had access to the rare works of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, which allowed him to study the engraving of Albrecht Dürer. These studies led him to create his own language, based on graphic arts. In 1959, under the direction of Johnny Friedlaender, he began his engraving work on metal. In the mid-1960s, he integrated the kinetic art movement, when he performed the Excitáveis works – paintings and objects moved by electrostatic electricity. He returned to Brazil in 1978, working on public art projects, including his monumental sculptures in the urban landscape of Fortaleza, a city where he has lived and worked since 1980. He was the founder and curator of Exposições Internacionais de Esculturas (International Exhibitions of Ephemeral Sculptures) (Fortaleza, Ceará, 1986 and 1991), and took part in several exhibitions, among them: 5th, 6th, 7th and 19th editions of International Biennial of São Paulo (1959, 1961, 1963, 1987); 14th Milan Triennial, 1967 – Italy; International Engraving Exhibition 1970 – Krakow, Poland; Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM – São Paulo, 1974, São Paulo; A Century of Sculpture in Brazil, at MASP, 1982 – São Paulo, São Paulo; Brazil +500 Years: Mostra do Conhecimento (Rediscovery Exhibition), at Fundação Bienal, 2000 – São Paulo, São Paulo. His work is represented in the main museums of the world and in other public and private collections of Brazil and abroad. Sérvulo Esmeraldo was born in Crato, Ceará, on February 27, 1929. He died in Fortaleza, Ceará, on February 1, 2017. He is one of the Brazilian artists of greater international projection, of intense geometric-constructive rigor and creative discipline.
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