Upcoming Exhibitions

The color and lyricism of Alberto Massuda on his centenary (1925–2000)

The painter, poet, designer, and teacher Alberto Massuda was born in Cairo, Egypt, under the name Ibrahim Massouda, on January 2, 1925, into a middle-class Jewish family that encouraged his interest in the arts from a very young age. After studying at the School of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Art Education at Cairo University, he joined the Groupe de l’Art Contemporain in that city. 

He was part of several artistic movements and exhibitions, including at the Cairo Museum of Modern Art (1948), the Venice Biennale in Italy (1952), and the Alexandria Biennale (1955), where he won the Bronze Medal.

Due to problems of intolerance against Jews, he continued his studies in Rome, Italy, attending a course in Film Set Design, before moving to Curitiba, Brazil, in 1958, where he actively participated in the Visual Arts Renewal Movement. In 1964, he joined Grupo Um, or GUM, formed together with Érico da Silva, René Bittencourt, Álvaro Borges, and Waldemar Roza. 

It is impossible to categorize him; he is a poet of color and dreamlike imagery, similar to Marc Chagall, but with the color palette inherited from Henri Matisse. He is a painter of nymphs and caryatids, of simple and naive life imbued with the traditions accumulated through his experiences, not without anguish and mystery.

He was a professor of drawing and painting at Casa Alfredo Andersen, the Brazil-United States Cultural Center, and the Curitiba Creativity Center, and fascinated his students with his formal and chromatic freedom.

Alberto Massuda passed away in Curitiba in October 2000.

With the exhibition "The color and lyricism of Alberto Massuda - 100 years", the Oscar Niemeyer Museum is bringing to the public the work of this renowned artist who chose Paraná as his home. 

Born in Egypt exactly 100 years ago, Massuda left us an immense legacy. Here we have a significant selection, curated by Fernando Bini. A retrospective that allows us to fly through time, weightlessly, guided by the artist's colors and poetic strokes.

The exhibition begins with his production in Cairo, goes through his first years in Brazil, presents his integration into the Curitiba art movement and reaches the last years of his productive career, always with strong and striking features, characteristic of his work as a whole.

MON is the largest art museum in Latin America, with a collection of 14,000 works dedicated to the visual arts, architecture and design, with an emphasis on Brazilian art, especially art from Paraná. The latter has always played an important role both in the collection and in MON's exhibition calendar, and this show confirms that vocation.

MON's Room 7 is increasingly establishing itself as a space for Paraná's visual arts legacy. We understand that museums are living spaces of knowledge, which increase the repertoire and provide unique experiences for their audiences. One of the Museum's objectives is to enable constant dialog between art from Paraná and our visitors. 

Juliana Vellozo Almeida Vosnika 
CEO of the Oscar Niemeyer Museum

More than 90 paintings depicting various stages in the career of the artist Alberto Massuda (1925-2000) are part of the exhibition "The color and lyricism of Alberto Massuda - 100 years", held by the Oscar Niemeyer Museum. On show in Room 7 at MON, the exhibition celebrates the centenary of this artist who was born in Egypt and chose Paraná to live and work in. The exhibition is curated by Fernando Bini.

Oscar Niemeyer Museum holds exhibition by artist Alberto Massuda

The exhibition "The color and lyricism of Alberto Massuda - 100 years", held by the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (MON), will open on November 13 at 7pm in Room 7. There are more than 90 paintings depicting various stages in the career of the artist (1925-2000), who was born in Egypt and chose Paraná to live in. Fernando Bini is the curator.

"Celebrating Alberto Massuda's centenary is also recognizing the transformative power of art in Paraná," said Luciana Casagrande Pereira, Secretary of State for Culture. "Massuda was an artist with a restless soul and intense sensitivity, who found in Curitiba a fertile ground for his creations. This exhibition emphasizes MON's role as a guardian and disseminator of the fundamental trajectories of our artistic history," he says.

"Massuda left us an immense legacy. Here we have a significant section, a retrospective that allows us to fly through time, guided by the artist's colors and poetic features," says MON's director Juliana Vosnika.

The exhibition begins with his production in Cairo, goes through his early years in Brazil, presents his integration into the Curitiba art movement and reaches the last years of his productive career, always with strong and striking features, characteristic of his work as a whole.

"MON's Room 7 is becoming more and more established as a space for Paraná's visual arts legacy," says Juliana. "We understand that museums are living spaces of knowledge, which increase the repertoire and provide unique experiences for their audiences. One of the Museum's objectives is to enable constant dialog between art from Paraná and our visitors," he says. 

Massuda took up the arts at a very young age. "After studying at the School of Fine Arts and the Faculty of Artistic Pedagogy at Cairo University, he joined the Groupe de l'Art Contemporain in his hometown," explains the curator of the exhibition. Bini also reports that Massuda was involved in several artistic movements and exhibitions, including at the Museum of Modern Art in Cairo (1948), the Venice Biennale in Italy (1952), and the Alexandria Biennale (1955), where he was awarded the Bronze Medal.

He moved to Brazil, settling in Curitiba in 1958, when he took an active part in the Visual Arts Renewal Movement. In 1964, he joined Grupo Um, or GUM, together with Érico da Silva, René Bittencourt, Álvaro Borges and Waldemar Roza. 

"It's impossible to categorize him; he's the poet of color and oneirism, close to Marc Chagall, but with the color inherited from Henri Matisse. He is the painter of nymphs and caryatids, of simple and naive life impregnated by the traditions accumulated by his experience, not without anguish and mystery," says the curator.

Massuda also taught drawing and painting at the Alfredo Andersen House, the Brazil-United States Cultural Center and the Curitiba Creativity Center. "He fascinated his students with his formal and chromatic freedom," says Bini.

Upcoming Exhibitions

The color and lyricism of Alberto Massuda

SEE WHAT'S ON

Receive news

Oscar Niemeyer Museum

Tickets