Uma Sesta Tropical, de Manoel Santiago: um “quadro curioso” no meio artístico carioca dos anos 1920

Abstract

This dissertation has as object of study the painting Uma Sesta Tropical (1925) by Manoel Santiago (1897-1987). The artwork is part of a private collection and represents the encounter between five figures, some naked and others dressed, in a time after a meal. Rejected by the Painting Jury of the 32nd General Exhibition of Fine Arts (1925), the canvas experienced a turbulent period on the eve of the event's opening when, among reconsiderations by the commission, it was rejected. Followed by the press, the episode became an agenda for art critics, who questioned the supposed immorality imputed into the representation. Unique in its characterization, both, the artwork, and the reception of its refusal, reveal the depth of the sensibilities contemporary to them, an issue also examined in this work. Thus, in the joint analysis that takes shape as the work progresses, the particularities of the painting and the trajectory of its author receive a focus, a movement that provides tools for a better understanding of the painting and of the circumstances that resulted from the refusal. Furthermore, this study seeks to recognize the canvas from some places of meaning.