Benedito José Tobias (1894-1963): trajetória e retratística

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the career and portrait production of São Paulo painter Benedito José Tobias (1894-1963?). In the first stage of the research, we covered the artist's biographical journey, surveying, mapping, and reflecting on his presence and work in São Paulo's art scene, especially during the early decades of the 20th century. We present originally all the data found and organized about the artist's trajectory, such as his participation in collections and exhibitions in the contemporary context, as well as his insertion in the artistic circuit of the time, his main sociabilities, and his performance in the art system of the period. In the second stage of the investigation, we focused on the portraits produced by the painter throughout his career as an artist. Based on reflections on the art system, the portrait production of B. J. Tobias, and the representation of blackness, we went through the selected works to present this section of the artist's production to the public. We have divided the portraits into two groups, namely individual portraits and family portraits. The main purpose was to counter, based on the data and the artist's production, the anonymity to which he had been subjected until then, demonstrating his recognition and value as a national painter.