Arthur Tímótheo da Costa, Portrait of a Boy, 1910s. Oil paint on canvas laid on French board; 15¾ × 13 in. Funds from Charles G. Patterson III, 2022.133.

length: 15 3/4 in, 40.005 cm; width: 13 in, 33.02 cm; depth: 1/4 in, 0.635 cm; frame height: 20 7/8 in, 53.0225 cm; frame width: 17 7/8 in, 45.4025 cm; frame depth: 1 5/8 in, 4.1275 cm

Mayer Center, Latin American Art

Latin American Art

Born in 1882 to a modest family of African descent in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Arthur Timótheo da Costa began his art studies at a young age at the Casa da Moeda do Brasil (Brazilian Mint), where he studied drawing and engraving. Encouraged by Enes de Souza, then director of the mint, in 1894, he and his brother João Timótheo da Costa enrolled at the National School of Fine Arts. There they studied under some of the most prominent artists of the time, including François-Marie Daniel Bérard, Zeferino da Costa, Rodolfo Amoedo, and Henrique Bernardelli. Besides, between 1895 and 1900, he informally studied stage design working as an assistant for Oreste Coliva, an Italian set designer established in Brazil.

Timótheo da Costa regularly exhibited at the Exposição Geral de Belas Artes (General Exhibition of the Fine Arts). There, in 1907, he was awarded a travel grant which funded a nearly two-year stay in Paris (1908-10). Shortly after his return to Brazil, he had the opportunity to travel to Italy with his brother João, and the artists brothers Carlos and Rodolfo Chambelland, to work on the decoration of the Brazilian pavilion at the Turin International exposition of 1911. Overcoming the widespread race and class prejudices and limitations of that time, Timótheo da Costa had a remarkable artistic career exhibiting his works regularly until the early 1920s, when his mental health rapidly declined. He died in a mental asylum on October 5, 1922.

Although undated, this painting was likely executed in the 1910s. In contrast to other portraits from this period by the artist, in which sitters appear in relaxed and informal postures, the boy’s side posing is solemn and self-conscious, conveying a sense of formality. This composition is perhaps a result of Timótheo da Costa’s early training as an engraver at the mint, or maybe because a photograph served as inspiration. The artist conveyed the sitter’s grave expression with a masterful blend of techniques, ranging from the careful academic rendering of the face that captures the subject’s energy and emotions to the powerful and intentional brush strokes and colors in the background, more like the informal style of an impressionist painter.

- Jorge Rivas

Purchased about 1982 from (Leone Leilões de Arte), Brazil for Mr. Ludwig Hairabed Danielian; acquired by (Danielian Galeria), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Purchased 2022 from (Danielian Galeria), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by the Denver Art Museum. Provenance research is on-going at the Denver Art Museum. Please e-mail provenance@denverartmuseum.org, if you have questions, or if you have additional information to share with us.

• "Modernidades Emancipadas"—Danielian Galeria, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 07/07/2022 - 08/13/2022