Sigaud, Eugenio de Proença (1889–1979)

Eugenio de Proença Sigaud (b. 1889; d. 1979) Brazilian architectural engineer and painter. Born in the interior of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Sigaud moved to Rio in the early 1920s to study architecture at the National School of Fine Arts. While there, the artist Modesto Brocos helped perfect Sigaud's drawing skills. In 1931 Sigaud joined Edson Mota, João Rescala, José Pancetti, Milton Dacosta, and other young artists to form the Núcleo Bernardelli, a group that sought to counter the aesthetic traditionalism of the National School of Fine Arts. The Núcleo came to represent a moderate wing of the Brazilian modernist movement.

Sigaud's career consisted of two parallel aspects: he owned an architectural engineering and construction company, and he achieved prominence as a painter of social themes. His canvases and murals depict urban construction workers on scaffolding as well as rural coffee pickers. His most celebrated works include a painting entitled Work Accident, an architectural and interior design project for the church of São Jorge, and mural paintings for the cathedral of Jacarèzinho. He also dabbled in printing and book illustration.

See alsoRio de Janeiro (City) .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arte no Brasil, vol. 2 (1979), pp. 763-765.

Additional Bibliography

De Sá Rego, Stella, and Marguerite Itamar Harrison. Modern Brazilian Painting. Albuquerque: Latin American Institute, University of New Mexico, 1997.

                                 Caren A. Meghreblian