José Wasth Rodrigues
José Wasth Rodrigues (São Paulo, March 19, 1891 – Rio de Janeiro, April 21, 1957) was a Brazilian painter, drafter, illustrator, ceramist, teacher and historian.
During his trips to Minas Gerais, Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro, he registered in oils, watercolors and drawings, mainly pen-and-ink, old manor houses, churches and monuments of the region.
[2][4] When recently arrived from a European season, Wasth Rodrigues, besides rendering services to Ricardo Severo's studies, also dedicated himself to illustrate Monteiro Lobato's books and articles from "Revista do Brasil".
[5] In his first phase (between 1916 and 1925), Wasth Rodrigues counted on the collaboration of the most important part of Brazilian intellectuality, for the defense and diffusion of nationalism, conquering a privileged space by the editorial quality and by the willingness to break with the superficiality that characterized the magazines born under the sign of the turn of the century.
The European war had mortally wounded the spirit of the Belle Époque and, although reactions were not limited to the nativist search for Brazilian roots, for some time "modernity" and "nationalism" were almost synonymous.
He suggested, then, in an inquiry for the newspaper "O Estado de S. Paulo" on Colonial Architecture, that "the foundation of a Society or Commission of Architects with full powers with the governments and the Curias to embargo demolitions and prevent restorations from being made with the sacrifice of the building's 'characteristic physiognomy'.
At the opening of the XVIII Annual Salon of ENBA, on August 12, 1921, the ten competing projects were exhibited, and, after lengthy deliberation, the judging commission of the IBA announced the winners.
José Wasth Rodrigues published the following works: "Documentário arquitetônico relativo à antiga construção civil no Brasil" (Architectural documentary on old construction in Brazil)[1], in eight volumes, extensively illustrated; "Móveis antigos de Minas Gerais" (Antique furniture from Minas Gerais); "A casa da moradia do Brasil antigo" (The house of habitation in ancient Brazil).
[4] Following Severo's way,[7][8][9] Wasth Rodrigues made numerous trips throughout Brazil since 1918, gathering documentation that would become the book "Documentário Arquitetônico" (Architectural Documentary), originally published in fascicles in the 1940s.
"[6] In the Severo's manner, the documentation collected by Wasth Rodrigues reproduces constructive and decorative elements in isolation, even though some important buildings were surveyed in plan and elevation.
Nevertheless,due to its late publication, the work ended up not fulfilling such a role – that seems to have been left to the album "Estilo colonial brasileiro: composições arquitetônicas de motivos originais", of 1927, conceived by the Italian designer Felisberto Ranzini.
[11] Such an approach to traditional Brazilian architecture may have encouraged the removal of constructive or ornamental elements from old buildings, contributing to their decharacterization and stimulating the predatory trade in antiques.
This is what can be understood from the terms used by congressman José Wanderley de Araújo Pinho in his federal bill presented in 1930 and concerning "all immovable or movable things to which the state should extend its protection, due to its artistic value, its historical significance or its peculiar and remarkable beauty.
[a] Wasth Rodrigues' technique for producing the decorated tiles, which were a highlight for the artist, is that of over-glaze, which involves working directly on the already glazed surface, with a brush, or using successive masks for each tone or color.
"[13] The documental bases that subsidized the artistic production of Wasth Rodrigues are diverse: the oldest photographic views of the city of São Paulo, from which we highlight the ones by Militão Augusto Azevedo, and the drawings and engravings of the artists who integrated the scientific expeditions traveling through Brazil during the first half of the 19th century, as well as his trips to study the colonial architecture in the interior of the country, the researches on the uniforms of the Brazilian army, the flags, heraldry and about the Brazilian and Portuguese colonial furniture.
[7][8][9] The delay in publishing Wasth Rodrigues' work, and the absence of any mention of Ricardo Severo in its content, is an indication of possible disagreements between the Portuguese engineer and the São Paulo painter.
His gaze is again not limited to religious buildings, which were the vast majority of examples of this architecture at the time, but elements such as muxarabiê, crystal pinecones, railings and iron supports were also addressed by Wasth.
Allusive to the historical landmarks, the tile panels made for the Monuments of the Caminho do Mar, today part of the Anchieta Highway, pay tribute to the pioneers who climbed the mountain range towards the Piratininga plateau, building with their axes the path that connected São Paulo to the coast.
[14] José Wasth Rodrigues participated in several projects in São Paulo, most notably the remodeling of the Piques obelisk in Memória Square, begun in 1919 by order of President Washington Luís.
