Brazilian artists’ studios in Paris seen through photography

Abstract

Members of the Pharaonic Egyptian elite, citizens of ancient Rome and warriors “Vikings” posing next to a wood burning heater, apparently unaware of the implausible nature of your meeting ... An engagement party, in which one of the guests boasts a large napkin wrapped around the head, while their companion, with a dreamy look, leans gently on her shoulder ... These are just some of the unusual studio scenes that, alongside with other more prosaic, are included in the photo album entitled “München Rio de Janeiro Paris 1896-1914”, organized by the Brazilian artist Helios Aristides Seelinger (1878-1965). Many of the photos in the album dates from the 1910s before of the First World War, a period that represented one of the apogees of the “City of Light” as convergence focus to Brazil in search of artistic improvement and/or better able to practice their profession. Through the analysis of some of the photographs on Seelinger album, the aim of this article is to discuss how the studio images contribute to the construction of the artist's own self-image.