Lot 243: Portrait of a Brazilian lady

Portrait of a Brazilian lady signed and dated 'P. America 1878' (lower left) oil on canvas 57.5 x 53.7cm (22 5/8 x 21 1/8in).

57.5x 53.7cm

Pedro Américo de Figueiredo e Melo (Areia, Paraíba, Brazil, 29 April 1843 – Florence, Italy, 7 October 1905) was one of the most important academic painters of Brazil, as well as being a celebrated writer and teacher. After a move to Rio de Janeiro in 1854, Américo was granted a scholarship to study in the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes. He later continued his studies in Europe, at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, as a pupil of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Hippolyte Flandrin and Carle-Horace Vernet, winning much praise for his paintings. In 1868, he achieved a Doctorate in Sciences at the University of Brussels. Upon returning to his homeland Américo produced 'Independence or Death!', now one of the most wellknown paintings in Brazil. Living mostly in Florence but travelling extensively back and forth from Rio de Janeiro, Américo also developed a career as a lecturer and art historian. He married Carlota de Araújo Porto-alegre (1844–1918), daughter of painter and diplomat Manuel de Araújo Porto-alegre. Knighted by the German Crown he was also Great Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. With the proclamation of the Republic in Brazil in 1889, he was elected a deputy of the National Assembly.