3 caravelas
Do cenário para o Teatro Municipal - Rio de Janeiro

Artist name

Carlos Martins

Artist year born

1946

Artwork make date

1996

Artwork title translation

3 Caravels
Scenery for the Municipal Theatre - Rio de Janeiro

Artwork material

aquatint
paper

Artwork dimensions

height: 43.5cm
width: 32cm

Artwork type (categories)

Print

Accession method

Donated by Carlos Martins 1998

Accession number

17:2-1998

Label text

This study for an operatic stage set is related to an earlier series of prints entitled O Guarany, of which five examples are held by ESCALA. Martins began work on the series in 1983, each scene evolving in a meticulous process that combines printing from the original engraved plate and a series of subtle adjustments made using monotype techniques . O Guarany refers to the opera of the same name, composed by Carlos Gomes between 1868 and 1870, and presented at La Scala, Milan, following Gomes' move from Rio de Janeiro to Italy in 1864. O Guarany is a four act opera set in sixteenth century Rio that tells the story of a Romeo and Juliet romance between Ceci, the daughter of a Portuguese nobleman (and thus a representative of colonial power) and Pery, leader of the Tupi-Guarani Indians, native to Brazil. The series acted as a proposal for stage scenery and it was finally developed on a theatrical scale in 1996, for a concert at the Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro, commemorating the centenary of Gomes' death. Tres Caravelas, a depiction of three European ships on a voyage of discovery, was produced in the process of transforming the 1985 prints into large-scale stage scenery.
Isobel Whitelegg

Last updated date

2008