Mário Cravo Júnior

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Mário Cravo Júnior
Born(1923-04-13)13 April 1923
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Died1 August 2018(2018-08-01) (aged 95)
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Occupation(s)Sculptor, designer, painter
RelativesMário Cravo Neto (son)
Christian Cravo (grandson)
Castro Alves (cousin)

Mário Cravo Júnior (13 April 1923 – 1 August 2018) was a Brazilian sculptor, designer, and painter. He was part of the first generation of plastic artists in the city of Salvador, along with artists such as Carybé and Genaro de Carvalho [pt].[1] He worked as a plastic artist in the 1970s, he created numerous individual and collective expositions, awards, and sculptures in open spaces throughout Brazil, mainly in Salvador, along with having his works in museums worldwide.[2] His works drew from various materials and inspirations, including the Afro-Brazilian influences of his native Bahia.[3] His most well known work is the "Fonte da Rampa do Mercado" in the Comércio neighborhood of Salvador. His son, Mário Cravo Neto, and grandson, Christian Cravo, are both renowned photographers.[4]

Biography[edit]

Cravo's parents were Mario da Silva Cravo, a prosperous farm owner and merchant,[5] and Marina Jorge Cravo, a cousin of poet Castro Alves. They lived in Salvador when Mário, the first of four children, was born. The family came from Alagoinhas in an attempt to establish themselves in Salvador, but a little while after moved back to Alagoinhas due to Cravo's father being elected mayor of the city.[6] He was active in politics despite also being mainly in agriculture and commerce, a tradition within the family. He also wrote the book "Memórias de um homem de boa fé" (1975). Due to Cravo Júnior's mother liking literature and poetry, she was responsible for his first contact with books.[7][8]

During his time in school he returned to Salvador to study, attending Colégio Antônio Vieira. It was during this period that he built up his talent for design and his interest in astronomy.[7] In his teenage years, he began forming clay formations with the clay found on the banks of the Itapicuru River. During the same time period, despite having built an observatory on a farm his father bought in a rural part of Bahia state, he lost his passion for astronomy when he went to college to study engineering. He would later graduate from the Federal University of Bahia with both a Masters' and a Doctorate in Fine Arts.[9] After a turbulent period between professions, Mário began to set out and start his artistic career. During his time in rural Bahia, he also became interested in sculpting. He later studied with Ivan Meštrović in sculpting at the College of Fine Arts at Syracuse University, later completing works in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village with Jacques Lipchitz.[7] In 1945, he married Lúcia and had 4 children together. He has also trained artists such as Agnaldo Dos Santos, a renowned Black Brazilian sculptor in Salvador who won several prizes in his lifetime.[10] In 1960, his name was etched into the Brazilian pavilion at the Venice Biennale.[9]

One of the defining characteristics of his work is monumentalism, which is present in "Fonte da Rampa do Mercado".[5] This work was ordered by then-mayor Antônio Carlos Magalhães, and was constructed out of fiberglass in a metal cast. It is 22 meters in height.[7] The work had been damaged in 2019 due to a fire, but was renovated.[11][12][13] His works, along with the works of other famous people from Bahia, inspired Salvador-based rapper Baco Exu do Blues in his 2018 album Esú.[14] He also constructed the Orfeu statue in front of the Caramuru Building,[15] as well as Cruz Caída, which memorializes the Old Cathedral of Salvador, which was demolished in the 1930s.[16]

On 1 August 2018, Cravo died in Salvador at 95 years old.[17]

Fonte da Rampa do Mercado in the Comércio neighborhood of Salvador.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "TRÍPODI, Aldo. Considerações sobre a arte moderna na Bahia e a arte conceitual. Revista da Bahia, Salvador, n. 40, abr/2005. ISSN 0103-2089". Fundação Cultural do Estado da Bahia. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Biografia Resumida". Site Oficial Mario Cravo Junior. Archived from the original on 2012-01-20. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Mario Cravo Júnior". Escritório de Arte. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Christian Cravo: Twenty Five Years". Monovisions. 31 January 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Cravo Júnior, Mario (1923)". Itaú Cultural Encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Deputados". Legislative Assembly of Bahia. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d Cravo, Mário. "O desafio da escultura: a arte moderna na Bahia - 1940 a 1980". Fundação Cultural do Estado da Bahia; Edições Selo Editorial Rodin Bahia. Archived from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  8. ^ CAIXA ECONÔMICA FEDERAL. CAIXA Cultural Salvador. Mario Cravo Junior Revisitado (Catálogo da exposição).. Salvador: Atalho Produções, 2006.
  9. ^ a b "Mário Cravo Júnior". Dicionário Manuel Querino de Arte na Bahia, Universidade Federal da Bahia. 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  10. ^ "From Slave Ships to Galleries: representations and agency of colored people in the National Museum of Fine Arts's Collection". Museu das Belas Artes; Google Arts & Culture. 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Vídeo: famoso monumento na Praça Cayru, no Comércio, é consumido pelo fogo". Portal Notícias. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  12. ^ Martinho, Kamille (21 December 2019). "Prefeitura dialoga com família do artista Mário Cravo para reconstruir monumento". Metro 1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  13. ^ Castro, Vitor (9 January 2020). "Especialistas iniciam processo para a reconstrução do monumento à Cidade". A Tarde (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  14. ^ Salgado, Daniel (6 September 2017). "Rapper baiano Baco Exu do Blues lança seu disco de estreia, 'Esú'". O Globo. Rio de Janeiro. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  15. ^ Andrade Junior, Nivaldo Vieira de; Carvalho Andrade, Maria Rosa de; Cunha Freire, Raquel Neimann da (2009). Avant-garde na Bahia: urbanismo, arquitetura e artes plásticas em Salvador nas décadas de 1940 a 1960. Anais do 8º Seminário DOCOMOMO Brasil (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: DOCOMOMO-Brasil; PROARQ/FAU-UFRJ.
  16. ^ Cultural, Instituto Itaú. "Mario Cravo Júnior | Enciclopédia Itaú Cultural". Enciclopédia Itaú Cultural (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Morre em Salvador o artista plástico Mário Cravo Júnior" (in Brazilian Portuguese). G1. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
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