Yossi Milo currently has on view approximately 150 Retratos Pintados or "painted portraits", one-of-a-kind, hand-painted photographic portraits from Brazil. Retratos Pintados were popular in rural areas of northeastern Brazil during the late 19th-century up until the 1990s, however with ever advancing technologies, most portraits today are digitized, relegating these special, hand-crafted portraits to a dying art form.
Retratos Pintados were created by enlarging black-and-white family photos and painting over them. "Using oil washes and other techniques specific to the region, local artisans embellished clothing with pattern and color, smoothed wrinkles, added jewelry or resurrected deceased relatives, illustrating the fantasies and desires of their customers" (from the press release). Artists "glamorized and idealized their subjects" and it was common for clients to request that family members be portrayed as "icons or saints." The final results vary - some are noble portraits honoring loved ones while some resemble embarrassing yearbook pictures or awkward passport photos. Some are sweet and precious while some look funereal. Some are grandiose and campy while others are sort of creepy.
This selection of photographs was culled from the collection of Titus Riedl, a European who for 15 years has lived in the Brazilian region where this form of portraiture was once popular. A book of 61 of these photographs from Riedl's collection was published by Nazraeli Press and is the "only documentation of a fading art form unique to the tradition of vernacular photography." You can't help but wonder how Riedl amassed such a large collection of these portraits - elaborate representations of loved ones created specifically to preserve and treasure their memories. It's a bit sad to think how and why these unique mementos got away from their original owners and families. Learn more at Yossimilo.com and see pics of some of my favorites from the group below. Through September 18th.
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