Gonzaga Duque

His best known work, the novel Mocidade Morta (1900, Dead Youth), deals with young artists during the Segundo Reinado [pt], a period from 1840 to 1889, when the Republic of Brazil was established, and their opposition to the prevailing conservativism.

The initial reviews were not kind; calling it boring, morbid and full of pseudo-intellectual chatter.

[2] Recent criticism calls it a significant contribution to understanding the artistic community of late 19th century Brazil and its relationship to the outdated approaches taught at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts.

A familiar face among Rio's artistic milieu, his portrait was painted by Eliseu Visconti, Belmiro de Almeida, Rodolfo Amoedo and Presciliano Silva [pt], among others.

The Brazilian art scholar, Vera Lins, has done a thorough study of his work, which is available online.