Quantos mundos há na arte? Crítica de arte em Belém do Pará (1896-1914)

Abstract

In the passage from the 19th to the 20th century, the city of Belém do Pará experienced several transformations due to the synthesis between the economic boom related to the commercialization of intoxicated with the modernizing mentality characteristic of the period that became known by historiography as the ―Amazonian Belle Époque‖ (1870-1912). In the cultural sphere, intertwined with political projects, a circuit of Fine Arts exhibitions began to gain notoriety and become more dynamic, with Belém being requested, at the time, by several national and international artists to exhibit their works, mainly from 1905 when the foyer Theatro da Paz passed through its hall destined to the reception of exhibitions. This dissertation intends to follow a path of analysis reflecting on the role of art criticism in this circuit of exhibitions that has already been explained. Knowing that the press of the period has a direct influence on the publication of criticism, we will aim, from the analysis of two periodicals of the period as primary sources, to understand and problematize the role that critics and their published texts play in the consolidation and dissemination of the Belem's Fine Arts circuit of the centuries.