Emygdio de Barros

• Name — Emygdio de Barros • Born — 1895 • Birthplace — Paraíba do Sul, Brazil • Died — 5 May 1986 • Place of death — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil • Occupation — painter and draftsman Emygdio de Barros (or Emígdio de Barros or Emídio de Barros (1895 – May 5, 1986) was a Brazilian painter whose work is associated with the concepts of art brut (Jean Dubuffet's concept) and ‘virgin art’ (Mário Pedrosa's concept). His works were incorporated into the collection of the Museum of Images of the Unconscious, listed by IPHAN.

Emygdio de Barros was born in 1895 in Paraíba do Sul of Rio de Janeiro state. He entered the technical course of lathe operator and, after its completion, joined the Arsenal de Marinha do Rio de Janeiro. In the Navy, he stood out for his drawings, and was sent to France, where he took a two-year refresher course. After completing the course and returning to Brazil in 1924, he abandoned his job. Later he was admitted to the Praia Vermelha hospital, diagnosed with schizophrenia. In 1944, Emygdio de Barros was transferred to the Pedro II Psychiatric Center of the Gustavo Riedel Hospital, located in Engenho de Dentro. Three years later, in February 1947, after more than two decades of internment in different psychiatric institutions, he began to attend the Occupational Therapy Section workshop created by Nise da Silveira at the hospital in Engenho de Dentro. From then on, Emydgio stood out as one of Nise's cameos, a set of painters who were discovered among the hospital inpatients whose work presented a high artistic level, being compared to the French painter Henri Matisse, but who was not recognized because of the prejudice against mental patients that existed at the time. Emydgio's talent had been a discovery of the German painter Almir Mavignier. Emygdio de Barros produced more than 3,300 paintings, gouaches, and drawings, being classified in the styles art brut, proposed by Jean Dubuffet, ‘virgin art’ by Mário Pedrosa, and concrete art.

• Carnival (oil on canvas, 1948); • Universal (oil on canvas, 1948); • The Municipal (oil on canvas, 1949).

His works, as well as those of other artists, are associated with concrete art from Rio de Janeiro, being from the first exhibitions in the 1940s accepted in the art world, for their remarkable quality. Art critics, such as Mário Pedrosa and Abraham Palatnik, visited him frequently. The poet, member of the ABL and art critic Ferreira Gullar and one of the main art connoisseurs in the Lusophone world referred to Emygdio de Barros' work in these terms: Ferreira Gullar (1980)About Emydgio de Barros' work, the essayist and art critic Mário Pedrosa wrote that:Mário Pedrosa (1980)