Retratos Pintados
Yossi Milo. New York
There was a time when photography was not deemed susceptible of conveying the liveliness and the intensity that every good portrait required.
For this reason, in Brazil photographers habitually resorted to the technique of painting on photographs with the aim of restoring sensuality to the flesh and richness to clothing and jewels. Yossi Milo Gallery now offers a magnificent selection of 150 hand-painted portraits belonging to the collection of Titus Riedl, who lived in the country for fifteen years. These types of family portraits, which began to be executed in the late 19th century and continued to be produced until the 1990s, were a common feature in homes in the north- eastern Brazilian states. In these portraits the models, sometimes complete family groups, sometimes individuals fiancés, husbands, grandmothers or babies were embellished by applying color washing techniques that seemed to bestow an almost iconic status on them. Such is the case of the interesting photographs that appear in the first two pages of the catalogue that accompanies the exhibit (with an introduction by Martin Parr, edited by Parr and Titus Riedl, and published by Nazraeli Press in 2010). In these photos we can see the black-and-white portrait of a deceased man and its colored version. In the latter, the individual is represented against a blue background, wearing an impeccable suit and with an animated face, as if he were still alive. Thus, the mission of hand-painted photographs was to illustrate the fantasies and wishes of their owners.
