Almeida Júnior

In the later half of the 19th century, José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior (commonly referred to as Almeida Júnior) was one of the first Brazilians to adapt Realism in the tradition of Gustave Courbet. Unlike his peers at Brazil’s Academia Imperial de Belas Artes, Júnior did not compete for awards that would allow him to study painting in Europe, but his work was highly appreciated by Brazil’s Emperor Pedro II, and the government financed a six-year trip to France. When Júnior returned to Brazil, his painting style shifted from Historic and Academic to Realist as he abandoned religious and grandiose subject matter, turning instead to images of the daily lives of the “caipira,” Brazil’s rural working class. Júnior died tragically at 49 when his cousin stabbed him after discovering the painter’s long affair with his wife.