Sérvulo Esmeraldo

Sérvulo Esmeraldo was born in Crato, Ceará, in 1929, and passed away in Fortaleza, Ceará, in 2017. The artist began his career as a painter and printmaker, following the northeastern tradition of woodcut. In the 1950s, he moved to São Paulo, where he worked on the setup of the first São Paulo Biennial and held his first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MAM-SP). This exhibition earned him a scholarship from the French government to study at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, where he had the opportunity to learn from Johnny Friedlaender and specialize in the work of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528).

During his stay in Paris, Esmeraldo progressively became interested in constructive art, drawing close to artists like Julio Le Parc and Jesús Rafael Soto, and being inspired by the ideals of kinetic art and concretism. His most famous series, "Excitáveis," was developed during this period and consisted of acrylic pieces that moved when touched by the static electricity from the viewer's hands.

Living in Paris allowed Esmeraldo to gain international recognition. Returning to Brazil in the late 1970s, Esmeraldo focused his production on monumental metal sculptures. In 1986, he conceived and organized the 1st Exhibition of Ephemeral Sculpture in Fortaleza. He stood out in various exhibitions, including three São Paulo Biennials, and a large part of his production (around forty works) is part of the public heritage in the state of Ceará. His work is included in public and private collections in Brazil and abroad.

In 2011, the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo organized a major retrospective of his work. Sérvulo Esmeraldo passed away in February 2017, in Fortaleza, shortly before turning 88 years old.

Sources:
Photo: https://carbonogaleria.com.br/obra/sem-titulo-87#biografia
Text: Blombô research and curation, with the support of artificial intelligence for content writing and structuring.