Poty

Having been given the responsibility of guarding and preserving Poty Lazzarotto's precious legacy, the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (MON) has become a reference point for the work of this brilliant Brazilian artist.

One of our missions now is to go beyond regional boundaries, to present Poty in his universal dimension and make his work reach an ever larger and more diverse audience.

Being in a space that is a reference for art, architecture and design, with impeccable curation, such as Rosewood, is recognition of the importance that MON's collection has acquired, especially in recent years.

On March 29, Curitiba's birthday - and, coincidentally, the birth date of the artist Poty Lazzarotto - MON received the largest collection ever donated to the institution: approximately 4,500 items. The year was 2022.

Since then, MON has become the guardian of the works, but also the facilitator of access to them. This collection includes more than 3,000 drawings and 366 engravings, as well as tapestries, carvings, serigraphs and sculptures, among others. The donation was made directly by the artist's brother, João Lazzarotto.

These are works that further enrich MON's collection, which has grown fivefold in recent years and currently has approximately 14,000 works of art, housed in a space of more than 35,000 square meters, making MON the largest art museum in Latin America.

Juliana Vellozo Almeida Vosnika
CEO of the Oscar Niemeyer Museum

The exhibition "Poty, the Narrator" reveals to the public a cross-section of the vast collection of works by Poty Lazzarotto (1924-1998), an artist from Paraná whose work is part of the collection of the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (MON). In his drawings and prints, Poty creates a world where everyday life is turned into a visual epic. His gaze ranges from the streets of his native Curitiba to the landscapes of the Xingu, where he spent a season immersed in indigenous culture.

Since childhood, Poty's line has already announced the power of his graphic narrative. In 1942, he entered the National School of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro, where he was initiated into the world of engraving by Carlos Oswald. Graduating in 1946, he received a scholarship to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Returning to Brazil in 1948, Poty dedicated himself not only to creation, but also to artistic training: in 1950, he organized the first engraving course at the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP) and taught courses in Bahia, Recife and Curitiba.

From the 1950s onwards, his art expanded monumentally into the public space, through mural projects. His most emblematic works include: "The Historical Development of Paraná" (1953), the mural for the Guaíra Theater (1969) and the mural for the Latin America Memorial in São Paulo (1988).

A sensitive narrator, Poty moves naturally between the sacred and the profane, between celebration and work, composing in each line a visual chronicle of deep Brazil. His work is, first and foremost, a gesture of listening - to time, the land and the people - which becomes a trace.

Juliane Fuganti
Curator