Francisco Domingos da Silva (Brazilian, b.1910) HOMETOWNAlto Tejo, Brazilswordfish originalsigned and dated '1972 / FDSilva' (down left)painting on canvasmeasurements without frame: 27" x 19" ( 69 x 49 cm)measurements with original frame: 32" x 24" (81 x 63 cm)FRANCISCO DA SILVA FOLLOWBorn in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, Francisco da Silva is perhaps the first popular Brazilian artist, after Vitalino, to become known nationwide, and even in specialized foreign markets. He began painting in Fortaleza, capital of the State of Ceará, his home since 1935, doing odd jobs in shoemaking, plumbing, welding, stonemasonry, and carpentry, and painting walls. What he most enjoyed doing, however, “was to draw on the walls of fishermen’s houses using fresh green grass and white and red bricks, because I didn’t have paint at the time.” At that time, his large Amazon birds, marine figures and dragons were seen for the first time by the Swiss critic and painter Jean Pierre Chabloz, during his first stay in Ceará, between 1943 and 1944. Chabloz introduced him to gouache, a material that he continued to use his life through because of the affinity with his first way of painting.In the University Art Museum, Chico made the large group of gouaches that are still in its collection today. The 1960s were the start of Chico’s painful and spectacular circumnavigation, when he left the University, exposed to the galloping merchandising of his art, with rare moments of exception, such as the exhibitions in Relevo Gallery (Rio de Janeiro, 1963), Galerie Jacques Massol (Paris, 1965) and Brazilian Primitive Artists (cities in Europe, including Moscow, 1966). He was given honorable mention in the 1966 Venice Biennial, by critic and curator Clarival do Prado Valladares. Remembered as one of the greatest Brazilian artists, Francisco da Silva “is the interpreter of a mythology diluted in the oral tradition of a vast region that only he fixed and reflected.”

This is in good condition with age appropirate wear.