Hércules Barsotti

Hércules Barsotti (São Paulo SP 1914 - also, 2010)

Hércules Barsotti was a painter, draftsman, visual programmer, and printmaker. Born in São Paulo in 1914, he began his early drawing studies with Enrico Vio from 1926 to 1933. In 1937, he graduated in Industrial Chemistry from the Mackenzie Institute. From 1937 to 1939, he worked as a chemist, and began painting around 1940.

His first abstract drawings appeared in 1950, and from 1954 onward he produced constructivist works, though independently of the Paulista Concrete Group. From the same year, he also worked in textile design and, together with Willys de Castro, founded the Estúdio de Projetos Gráficos in São Paulo (1954–1967). Until 1957, he continued to work as a magazine illustrator. His first solo exhibition took place in 1959 at Galeria de Arte Folhas in São Paulo, and his work demonstrated an affinity with Neo-Concretism, as did that of Willys de Castro. From the 1960s onward, he participated in the São Paulo International Art Biennials and presented works in the Neo-Concretist exhibitions held in 1960 and 1961. Along with other artists, he co-founded the group Novas Tendências (1963–1965).

In the 1960s, he significantly expanded his color palette, importing acrylic paint from the United States—a novelty at the time. His collaboration with Willys de Castro left a profound mark on Barsotti’s work. Together, they shared experiences with the leading figures of global concrete art, including Max Bill, who emerged as a major revelation at the first São Paulo Biennial in 1951.

He was a member of the Brazilian Association of Industrial Designers and received recognition in a national textile pattern design competition in 1967. He stood out among modern Brazilian visual programmers for his research on form and color applied to industrial production.

In 1998, Barsotti sold his historic collection of concrete art, parting with 21 of his drawings that had been featured in major exhibitions and biennials. Most of these works were produced during the debates between the Paulista Concretes, led by painter Waldemar Cordeiro, and the Rio-based Neo-Concretes.

Critiques

"His interest lies in the nature of painting and the gestalt possibilities of color, surface, and spatiality. An occasional participant in the São Paulo Concrete Group, though ideologically closer to the artists of Rio de Janeiro, he has worked since the early 1950s with color—particularly black and white—and the dynamics of formal possibilities. Striving for a balance between reason and emotion, his paintings possess an objectual quality resulting from the three-dimensional illusion created by the uneven distribution of color fields in relation to the frame. Forms float, rotate, and escape beyond the canvas. Frederico Morais writes that he 'tensions the canvas space, creating a relationship between color and space that expands and contracts, establishing an ambiguous relation between form and background.' Barsotti's canvases are 'acts of spatialization,' as Ronaldo Brito observes. At the turn of the 1960s, he produced a series of black-and-white canvases that are gems of synthesis in exploring the gestalt possibilities of figure and ground, where the smaller figure concentrates greater energy, creating an illusion of expansion and rotation with remarkable economy of elements."
Gabriela S. Wilder

"Barsotti's canvases, in my view, accomplish the same process in reverse: starting from a sensitive intuition of color, they reach logical-structural comprehension. This can be observed in the stages of production. First, the painter seems to strip away pictorial matter and chromatic empathy. Color is taken as a pure act of spatialization. And the a priori of format—the deliberate choice to employ triangles, hexagons, etc.—signals the dominance of structural reasoning over any mimicry. Having established this, the painter reintegrates nature as a moment in the cultural process—nature as painting, with the physical vibration of colors. Each canvas exudes an affective tone, a certain disposition of the spirit to articulate and inhabit a world. The geometric figure thus reappears, qualified by color—there are, ultimately, no pure and ideal triangles or squares."
Ronaldo Brito

"The observer—whether accustomed or unaccustomed to the traditional way of seeing art—after passing through the inevitable figurative associations that Barsotti's colored planes or external forms might induce, begins to perceive, through the integrity of the work, a concise flow of purely visual information. Since our interpretation of perceptible signs occurs internally, it is quite possible that at this point—with effort and humility—we start to inquire more of the perceived object than of our memory, or rather, our archive of models and confrontational experiences. From there, the work, full of unforeseen meanings, reveals what each viewer must extract from it."
Willys de Castro

"Fascinated by the translucent, thin, and homogeneous surfaces achievable with acrylic on canvas, Barsotti never abandoned it, mastering a palette of enormous chromatic richness. His canvases at times articulated up to ten color bands simultaneously. Gradually, and more markedly in recent years, the artist reduced the color fields in each composition. Now he works with two or at most three tones, one of which nearly always occupies extremely sharp areas that, in addition to chromatic tension, create a virtual displacement of planes, suggesting volume. Each work, it should be noted, is preceded by a meticulously drafted project on graph paper. Only after these problems are fully resolved at this stage does Barsotti move to execution—or delegate it without hesitation. After all, 'execution never incorporates surprises,' he maintains. 'My thinking is architectural; the project is already the finished work.' Color selection, however, does not follow this Cartesian logic. It is personal and intransferable, developed retinically during pigment mixing. A similar approach governs decisions about the area each tone will occupy on the canvas. 'It is when I place one color next to another that I perceive their relationship,' he explains. 'At that moment, it is my eye, not my head, that decides.'"
Angélica de Moraes

"The sense of rotation of the figures, from the central point, is another distinctive way Barsotti experimented with spatial and temporal dimensions. He rotates square figures within the painted plane by a few degrees, or turns the canvas support 45 degrees on the wall. In the new position, the square placed from a vertex floats as a regular rhombus, while its diagonals, now aligned horizontally and vertically, provide visual stability to the painting-object. Squares expanded along the diagonal would be definitively adopted by the artist for the development of color experimentation. From geometric order, Barsotti reaches the life of the image. The internal structure of his work is founded on geometric experience, but sensory certainty comes from experimental practice. Geometry is a tool to invent and explore space. Hence, it is never too much to remember that the Greeks used proportion directly, where today we rely on calculative formalism. Geometry can be understood as a way to present a problem—as the perceptible form of an idea that cannot be expressed through other codes. It constitutes one of the remarkable chapters of irrational mathematics, which helps explain why visually reasonable and sensitive procedures cannot be considered 'rationalist.'"
Ana Maria de Moraes Belluzzo

Interview with Hércules Barsotti

Hércules Barsotti, 91 years old, Willys de Castro’s studio partner for several decades from the 1940s, recalls in this interview their times of artistic collaboration.
The book Willys, with graphic design by Rodrigo Andrade and bilingual edition (Portuguese-English), was sponsored by McKinsey & Company.

You shared a studio in São Paulo with Willys de Castro for many years. Could you tell us about your working process? Did you give each other feedback on the works created there?

Let’s say we conversed within the same artistic environment. We exchanged some ideas, but each of us pursued our own work.

How did you start working together?

We set up a studio downtown, on Santa Isabel Street, near Santa Casa de Misericórdia. I met Willys because we both attended gatherings of people interested in new music [Ars Nova group] at the dentist Klaus Dieter Wolff’s house. Both of us loved music and also painted. So we decided to have a studio together, but each maintained his own work.

Who were the masters then? Which artists did you admire in painting at the time?

There weren’t exactly figures we considered “masters.”

Were you self-taught?

Yes, precisely.

Do you think Willys’s work is well preserved?

Raquel [Arnaud] Babenco organized our exhibitions, but at a certain point I decided to donate the entire collection I kept after Willys’s death to the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo. This allowed a special room to be created for him. I spoke with Emanoel Araújo, the director of the Pinacoteca at the time, and they set up the “Sala Willys de Castro” there. It’s well arranged, and the artist Macaparana helped in its design. The main works of Willys are now at the Pinacoteca.

Did you keep any favorite pieces at home, ones that bring fond memories?

I have one of his Objetos Ativos on my living room wall. It was an idea of his that went beyond the ordinary, so I kept this remarkable piece. The Pinacoteca also has a Cube from the same period, very beautiful.

In terms of phases, which periods do you consider most significant in Willys’s trajectory?

Actually, when we started, there were the Biennials. However, I believe the second edition of the São Paulo International Biennial even canceled our participation, rejecting our works.

But why? There seemed to be a strong alignment with the exhibition’s line and posters, etc.

I don’t know, but they refused. Later we attended others that accepted us, and everything worked out.

Did you hold many joint exhibitions?

Yes, quite a few. Works from both of us were often shown in Rio, at the Petite Galerie, as well as at the gallery of the same name in São Paulo. That was Franco Terranova’s gallery. We had great success at the start, even though, back then, people paid little attention to visual arts, especially abstract art.

Did you travel to Europe to get to know the artistic movements there?

Yes, we traveled, but we didn’t exhibit abroad. We spent a long time in Italy to get a sense of the world. We also went to England, France, and Turkey.

Which of Willys’s works do you most appreciate?

The Objetos Ativos, like the one I have. I think it was a completely new idea at the time—a concept he introduced.

Which artists later explored this idea? Did you know Hélio Oiticica?

I couldn’t say if it influenced him. Hélio Oiticica was in Rio at the time, and we were in contact; he even came to our studio. But that was about it.

So the São Paulo Neoconcrete movement wasn’t so isolated from the Rio group?

I don’t think they were isolated.

Which artists did you engage with at the time?

With the Neoconcrete group, precisely. We knew Lygia Clark quite well, then Hélio Oiticica, and so on. Early on, I remember Alfredo Volpi visited our studio, and it seems his more abstract painting developed significantly from that period.

Are any exhibitions of yours currently being organized?

No, I believe I’ve had my last one. My vision is a bit blurred now, so I can no longer draw or paint properly. My last works are from last year [2004], made for an exhibition at the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art.

You and Willys de Castro undertook several applied art projects, such as stained glass and textiles.

Yes, I even did a stained glass project for the São Bento Monastery in the 1990s, but the monks ultimately did not carry it out. Willys and I also designed textiles. The dresses made with our prints are now in the collection of the São Paulo Museum of Art. We created the designs, and renowned tailors produced the garments. They were commissions from the Rhodia textile company. I remember a famous fashion show at Ibirapuera Park, very well received—I believe it was during the Fourth Centenary of São Paulo [1954]. The model entered wearing a closed cape, which she then opened to reveal a black-and-white dress of mine. I still remember everyone standing to applaud—it was a great success. Later, other artists’ clothes were presented as well, all promoted by Rhodia.

Did you also undertake graphic design projects?

Willys did far more than I did: posters, books, covers, logos. Today, artists do not venture into these fields as much.

Solo Exhibitions

1959
São Paulo SP - First solo exhibition, at Galeria de Arte das Folhas

1962
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo exhibition, at Petite Galerie

1965
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo exhibition, at Petite Galerie
São Paulo SP - Solo exhibition, at Galeria Novas Tendências

1970
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Solo exhibition, at Petite Galerie

1971
São Paulo SP - Solo exhibition, at Galeria Astréia

1981
São Paulo SP - Solo exhibition, at Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud

1984
São Paulo SP - Solo exhibition, at Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud

1986
São Paulo SP - Solo exhibition, at Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud

1993
São Paulo SP - Hércules Barsotti: Recent Works, at Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud

1996
São Paulo SP - Hércules Barsotti: Small Formats, at Sylvio Nery da Fonseca Escritório de Arte

1998
São Paulo SP - Hércules Barsotti: Drawings 1953-1960, at Sylvio Nery da Fonseca Escritório de Arte
São Paulo SP - Red, at Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud

2002
São Paulo SP - Hércules Barsotti: Recent Works, at Sylvio Nery da Fonseca Escritório de Arte

2004
São Paulo SP - Non-Color Color, at MAM/SP

Group Exhibitions

1957
São Paulo SP - 4th São Paulo International Biennial, at Pavilhão Ciccilo Matarazzo Sobrinho

1958
São Paulo SP - 7th Paulista Salon of Modern Art, at Galeria Prestes Maia - small silver medal

1959
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Neoconcrete Art Exhibition, at MAM/RJ
Salvador BA - Neoconcrete Art Exhibition, at Belvedere da Sé
São Paulo SP - 5th São Paulo International Biennial, at Pavilhão Ciccilo Matarazzo Sobrinho
São Paulo SP - 8th Paulista Salon of Modern Art, at Galeria Prestes Maia - large gold medal

1960
Mexico City (Mexico) - 2nd Inter-American Biennial of Mexico, at Palacio de Bellas Artes
Jerusalem (Israel) - 12 Brazilian Artists, at Bezalel Museum Jerusalem
Mexico - Contemporary Brazilian Art
Rio de Janeiro RJ - 2nd Neoconcrete Art Exhibition, at MEC
Rio de Janeiro RJ - 9th National Salon of Modern Art, at MAM/RJ
Tel Aviv (Israel) - 12 Brazilian Artists
Zurich (Switzerland) - Konkrete Kunst, at Helmhaus

1961
São Paulo SP - 3rd Modern Art Exhibition, at MAM/SP
São Paulo SP - 3rd Neoconcrete Art Exhibition, at MAM/SP
São Paulo SP - 6th São Paulo International Biennial, at Pavilhão Ciccilo Matarazzo Sobrinho

1963
Rio de Janeiro RJ - 2nd Face and Work, at Galeria Ibeu Copacabana

1965
London (UK) - Brazilian Art Today, at Royal College of Arts
São Paulo SP - 8th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
Vienna (Austria) - Brazilian Art Today, at Museum für Angewandte Kunst

1966
Asunción (Paraguay) - Art Edge Hoy en el Brasil, at Missión Cultural Brasileña
Bonn (Germany) - Brazilian Art Today, at Beethovenhalle
Rio de Janeiro RJ - The Artist and the Machine, at MAM/RJ
São Paulo SP - The Artist and the Machine, at MASP

1970
São Paulo SP - Inaugural Show, at Galeria Astréia

1972
São Paulo SP - Arte/Brasil/Hoje: 50 Years Later, at Galeria da Collectio

1973
Brussels (Belgium) - Image of Brazil, at Manhattan Center
New York (USA) - Image of Brazil, at Manhattan Center

1975
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Communication According to Visual Artists

1977
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Constructive Project in Art: 1950-1962, at MAM/RJ
São Paulo SP - Brazilian Constructive Project in Art: 1950-1962, at Pinacoteca do Estado

1979
São Paulo SP - 11th Panorama of Contemporary Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
São Paulo SP - Four Colorists, at Christina Faria de Paula Galeria de Arte

1982
São Paulo SP - Group Exhibition, at Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud

1983
São Paulo SP - Imagining the Present, at Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud

1984
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Neoconcretism 1959-1961, at Galeria de Arte Banerj
São Paulo SP - Tradition and Rupture: Synthesis of Brazilian Art and Culture, at Fundação Bienal
São Paulo SP - Victor Grippo, Hércules Barsotti, Marco do Valle, Eduardo Sued, Carlos Fajardo, at Gabinete de Arte

1985
Belo Horizonte MG - Rio: Constructive Trend, at MAP
Curitiba PR - Four Masters: Four Visions, at Simões de Assis Galeria de Arte
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Encounters, at Petite Galerie
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Tribute to Maria Leontina, at Petite Galerie
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Exhibition, at Funarte and MEC
São Paulo SP - Highlights of Contemporary Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
São Paulo SP - Rio: Constructive Trend, at MAC/USP

1986
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Seven Decades of Italian Presence in Brazilian Art, at Paço Imperial

1987
Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st Geometric Abstraction: Concretism and Neoconcretism, at Funarte Centro de Artes
São Paulo SP - 19th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
São Paulo SP - 1st Geometric Abstraction: Concretism and Neoconcretism, at MAB/Faap
São Paulo SP - The Craft of Art: Painting, at Sesc
São Paulo SP - The Craft of Art: Painting, at Sesc

1988
São Paulo SP - Adventures of Order, at Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud
São Paulo SP - MAC 25 Years: Recent Acquisitions and Donations, at MAC/USP

1989
Fortaleza CE - Brazilian Art of the 19th and 20th Centuries in Cearense Collections: Paintings and Drawings, at Espaço Cultural da Unifor
São Paulo SP - 20th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
São Paulo SP - Brazilian Painting 19th & 20th Century: Works from the Banco Itaú Collection, at Itaugaleria

1990
Atami (Japan) - 9th Brazil-Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition
Brasília DF - 9th Brazil-Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition
Brasília DF - Brasília Prize for Visual Arts, at Museu de Arte de Brasília
Rio de Janeiro RJ - 9th Brazil-Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition
São Paulo SP - 9th Brazil-Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition, at Fundação Brasil-Japão
São Paulo SP - Coherence – Transformation, at Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud
Sapporo (Japan) - 9th Brazil-Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition
Tokyo (Japan) - 9th Brazil-Japan Contemporary Art Exhibition

1991
São Paulo SP - Constructivism: Poster Art 40/50/60, at MAC/USP

1992
Curitiba PR - 10th Curitiba City Print Exhibition/America Show, at Museu da Gravura
Poços de Caldas MG - Brazilian Modern Art: MAC/USP Collection, at Casa da Cultura de Poços de Caldas

1994
São Paulo SP - Brazil 20th Century Biennial, at Fundação Bienal

1996
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Constructive Tendencies in the MAC/USP Collection: Construction, Measure, and Proportion, at CCBB
São Paulo SP - Brazilian Art: 50 Years of History in the MAC/USP Collection: 1920-1970, at MAC/USP

1998
Niterói RJ - Mirror of the Biennial, at MAC/Niterói
São Paulo SP - 24th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
São Paulo SP - Constructive Art in Brazil: Adolpho Leirner Collection, at MAM/SP

1999
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Constructive Art in Brazil: Adolpho Leirner Collection, at MAM/RJ
São Paulo SP - Everyday/Art. Consumption, at Itaú Cultural

2000
Lisbon (Portugal) - 20th Century: Art from Brazil, at Centro de Arte Moderna José de Azeredo Perdigão
São Paulo SP - Brazil + 500: Rediscovery Exhibition, at Fundação Bienal

2001
São Paulo SP - Museum of Brazilian Art: 40 Years, at MAB/Faap
São Paulo SP - The Trajectory of Light in Brazilian Art, at Itaú Cultural

2002
Niterói RJ - Dialogue, Antagonism, and Replication in the Sattamini Collection, at MAC/Niterói
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Archipelagos: The Plural Universe of MAM, at MAM/RJ
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Art in the Fadel Collection: From the Restlessness of Modernity to the Autonomy of Language, at CCBB
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Paths of the Contemporary 1952-2002, at Paço Imperial
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Parallels: Brazilian Art of the Second Half of the 20th Century in Context, Colección Cisneros, at MAM/SP
São Paulo SP - Brazilian Art in the Fadel Collection: From the Restlessness of Modernity to the Autonomy of Language, at CCBB
São Paulo SP - Map of the Now: Recent Brazilian Art in the João Sattamini Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Niterói, at Instituto Tomie Ohtake
São Paulo SP - Parallels: Brazilian Art of the Second Half of the 20th Century in Context, Colección Cisneros, at MAM/SP

2003
Belo Horizonte MG - Geometric Works, at Léo Bahia Arte Contemporânea
Brasília DF - Brazilian Art in the Fadel Collection: From the Restlessness of Modernity to the Autonomy of Language, at CCBB
Mexico City (Mexico) - Cuasi Corpus: Concreto and Neoconcrete Art from Brazil: A Selection from the MAM São Paulo and Adolpho Leirner Collection, at Museo Rufino Tamayo
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Order x Freedom, at MAM/RJ
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilianart Project, at Almacén Galeria de Arte
São Paulo SP - Tomie Ohtake in the Spiritual Fabric of Brazilian Art, at Instituto Tomie Ohtake

2004
Rio de Janeiro RJ - 90 Years of Tomie Ohtake, at MNBA
Rio de Janeiro RJ - Tomie Ohtake in the Spiritual Fabric of Brazilian Art, at MNBA
São Paulo SP - The Price of Seduction: From Corset to Silicone, at Itaú Cultural
São Paulo SP - Brazilian Version, at Galeria Brito Cimino

2005
São Paulo SP - Trajectory/Trajectories, at Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud