Background By
Background XX By the late 1940s, the state of Sao Paulo produced consumer goods distributed throughout the country. Meanwhile, in cultural terms his greatest accomplishment was the Week of Modern Art in 1922, not fully understood by the Brazilian society. In that scenario, Assis Chateaubriand, founder and owner of Di rios Associados, the largest communications network of the time in Brazil, conceptualized the creation of a museum under an innovative model that function as a dynamic center of generation and dissemination of culture, reflecting the dynamism of the economy of the state, without the radicalism of some elements of modernism and traditionalism without elements linked to a antiquities conservative view of the arts. In the words of Chateaubriand, antiquities dealers ” antiquities for sale … a house painting and sculpture to educate and interest our people in the arts. ” Sandro Botticelli (Italian, 1445-1510). The antiquities auction Virgin and Child with Saint John the Egyptian antiquities Baptist, 1490/1500. Tempera on panel, diameter 74 cm.Chateaubriand intended to host a future museum in Rio de Janeiro, however, chose to Sao Paulo as he considered that in this city would have a greater opportunity to raise the funds necessary to form an art collection, given the rich local coffee intake and industries. a collection of Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Central European, Byzantine and Islamic are very special and expensive Another important factor to enable the formation of the acquis was the European art market trends, market influenced by the end of World War II, a circumstance that allowed acquiring masterpieces then affordable price. To get moving in that market in order to shape the collection of the Museum, was necessary technical expertise and experience: Chateaubriand suggested to Pietro Maria Bardi, gallerist, collector, journalist and critic of Italian art, the challenge of creating a Museum Ancient and Modern Art. Bardi objected that there should be no distinction between the arts and proposed only a “Museum of Art”, accepting the invitation of Chateaubriand.While Bardi had planned to be leading the project for just one year, was devoted to him from the rest of his life, having led the institution for almost fifty years. He brought to Brazil, his private collection and a collection of 20 thousand photographs of Western art, one of the largest teaching collections of the world.