Roberto Magalhães

Roberto Magalhães (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 1940). As a child, he contributed illustrations to the newspaper in Ilha do Governador, the neighborhood where he was born. From 1954 onwards, he attended Colégio São Bento, in whose weekly newspaper he published caricatures of students and teachers, demonstrating a critical and ironic view of the environment around him. He abandoned his studies in 1960 to dedicate himself exclusively to drawing. Professionally and with great precision, he hand-designs bottle labels, advertisements, record covers, books and logos. At the same time, with no commercial commitment, he develops fantastic-themed Chinese ink drawings. Evaluated by the board of the National School of Fine Arts, these drawings are exhibited at Galeria Macunaíma, providing the artist with contact with the public and commercial galleries for the first time. Roberto Magalhães emerged on the Brazilian art scene in the early 1960s, standing out with the originality of his prints and drawings: “Gravuras Brasileiras”, Print Club, (Philadelphia, USA, 1964), at the IV International Engraving Biennial (Tokyo, Japan, 1964), at the “1^st National Young Engraving Exhibition”, Museu de Arte Contemporânea (São Paulo, Brasil, 1964) and at the “Brazilian Art Today” at The Royal Academy exhibition (London, England, 1964). In 1965, he became one of the main members of the group of young painters who held the exhibition “Opinião 65” at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, a revolutionary initiative for bringing a new visual language to the visual arts in Brazil. In 1966, he won the coveted foreign travel prize at the XV National Modern Art Salon, in Rio de Janeiro. Also, that same year, he won the prize at the IV Paris Biennial and settled in Paris, where he lived until 1969. After eight years without exhibiting ― his concerns and questions had led him to mysticism ―, in 1975, Magalhães restarted his artistic life, exhibiting and teaching at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro. In various techniques, Roberto Magalhães builds a long career, standing out as one of the references in the visual arts in Brazil and consolidating himself on the international circuit, including passages at the IV International Engraving Biennial (Tokyo, 1964); “Brazilian Art Today”, The Royal Academy (London, 1964); “Opinião 65”, Museu de Arte Moderna (Rio de Janeiro, 1965); VII São Paulo, Biennial (1965), Museu de Arte Moderna (Rio de Janeiro, 1966); “Modernidade ― Brazilian Art of the 20th Century”, Museum of Modern Art (Paris, 1987); Embassy of Brazil (London, 1988); “Retrospective Exhibition ― 30 Years”, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (Rio de Janeiro, 1992); “Xylography/Woodcut”, Museu de las Artes (Guadalajara, Mexico, 1995); “Retrospectiva”, Museu de Arte Moderna (Rio de Janeiro, 1996); “Roberto Magalhães ― Pinturas, Dibujos y Engravings”, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber (Caracas, Venezuela, 1998); Instituto de Cultura Brasil-Colombia (Bogota, Colombia, 2000); “Drawings”, Instituto Moreira Salles (Rio de Janeiro, 2001); “Otrebor ― The Other Side, Caixa Cultural (Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, 2008); “Black/White 1963-1966 ― Woodcuts and Drawings”, Visual Arts School of Parque Lage (Rio de Janeiro, 2011); “Roberto Magalhães ― Paintings and Drawings”, Fine Art Museum of Beijing (China, 2011); Black/White ― Woodcuts and Drawings 1963-1966, Visual School of Parque Lage (Rio de Janeiro, 2011); “Who I am, where I came from, where I'm going”, Paço Imperial (Rio de Janeiro, 2012); and “En-quan-to”, Casa Roberto Marinho (Rio de Janeiro, 2020).