Almeida Junior

Almeida Junior had a long-term affair with his cousin, José de Almeida Sampaio’s wife Maria Laura do Amaral Gurgel. Maria Laura and Almeida had once been engaged and later parted ways. She then went on to tie the knot with Almeida’s cousin but continued her liaison with Almeida.

When Sampaio learned of the affair, he grew furious and stabbed Almeida Junior to death on 13 November 1899.

His last painting was ‘The Guitar Player’, that he had finished a couple of days before his death. The world bore great loss with the demise of such a commendable artist and Brazil lost its ‘national painter’.

José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior was born on 8 May 1850 in the small town of Itu, Brazil, to Miguel Correa P, who was a priest at the Our Lady of Candelaria Church.

Almeida Junior was brought up in a pious home backed by strong religious beliefs. From a young age he worked as a bell ringer in his father’s church.

When not aiding with the daily chores, he spent his time making portraits.Many of these paintings were of religiousthemes, such as ‘The Apostle St. Paul’ in 1869, and were often used in his father’s church as décor.

His father was so impressed by his son’s skills that he held a fundraising event for his formal art education. The funds raised in the church would help to provide his son enough finance to learn art in Rio de Janerio.

His father was able to gather sufficient funds, and thus at the age of 19, Almeida Junior sailed to Rio de Janerio, where he received education in the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts.

Fortune struck Almeida Junior in 1876, when Emperor Pedro II visited Sao Paulo. At Itu, he came across the paintings by Almeida. The emperor had such deep admiration for his works that he immediately sponsored his further studies in Europe.

In 1877, he took drawing lessons in Paris, with 300 francs awarded to him by the Royal decree per month; this was a lot of money, since at that time a daily labourers wage was 5 francs per week.

In Paris he took admission in ‘EcoleNationaleSuperieure des Beaux’ in 1878. There he studied under the famous AlexandreCabanel for three years in the course of anatomical drawings.

In 1879 he joined the ‘Salon Officiel des Artistes Francais, where for the next three years he created several masterpieces including ‘DerrubadorBrasileiro’ or the Brazilian lumberjack.

A few of his other paintings from 1879 to 1882 were – ‘Brazilian and remorse of Judas’ in 1880, ‘Flight into Egypt’ in 1881 and ‘The Rest of the Model’ in 1882.

After 1882, Almeida Junior moved back to Brazil from Paris, where he exhibited his paintings at his first institute, the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts.

He opened up a studio at Sao Paulo, where he took upon himself the responsibility of training future generations of artists. Several of his students went on to make indelible marks in art, of which Pedro Alexandrino was most successful.

Almeida Juniorreformed Brazilian painting by injecting his passion into several themes such as regional paintings and Republican nobles.

He held exhibitions for potential buyers and the press. As a result of these exhibitions, word of his work spread far and wide and helped him gain an honourable reputation.

He received his greatest honour when he was awarded knighthood following his exhibition ‘ExposiçãoGeral de Belas Artes’ in 1884.