NORTHEAST BRAZIL - Brazil - page 213

E Instituto Ricardo Brennand
Av Antônio Brennand, Várzea.
Tel [phone]. # 1-5pm
Tue-Sun. 7
Founded by the cousin of
ceramic artist Francisco
Brennand, the Instituto
Ricardo Brennand includes a
small castle, the Castelo São
João, with a large collection
of European art, an impres-
sive collection of
medieval armory
and weapons, and
an extensive archive
of paintings and
documents from the
years of the Dutch
conquest of Brazil.
Also worth seeing
is the Pinacoteca
gallery that features
a large collection of
17th-century paint-
ings and drawings
by landscape artists
Frans Post and
Albert Eckhout, both
of whom were hired
by Dutch count
Maurice of Nassau to portray
Brazil's fauna and flora, as
well as scenes from everyday
life. Over the years, Brennand
has amassed the world's
largest collection of Post's
work. The exhibit also
includes many antique maps
and documents that recount
the brief, but eventful, history
of the Dutch in Brazil.

E Oficina de Cerâmica
Francisco Brennand
Access via Av Caxangá, Várzea.
Tel [phone]. # 8am-6pm
Mon-Thu, 8am-6pm Fri.
Acclaimed as the most
unusual cultural attraction in
Recife, the Oficina de
Cerâmica Francisco Brennand
is the famed artist's personal
gallery. Brennand (b.1927) is
best known for his
large collection of
phallic-shaped
ceramic sculptures,
nearly all of which
are striking, potent,
and larger than life.
His collection is
creatively displayed
inside a ceramic-
covered brick factory
and its surrounding
gardens, beautifully
landscaped by Burle
Marx, a renowned
landscape architect
of the 20th century.
In addition to
Brennand's superb
ceramic art, the collection
also showcases thousands
of playfully designed ceramic
tiles, as well as some of his
paintings and drawings. The
bold mix of stylized imagery,
embellishment, and erotic
motifs, visible in all his works,
led one critic to define
Brennand's art as “tropical
sensual Baroque.”

Eye-catching ceramic figures and
souvenirs on sale, Casa da Cultura

P Casa da Cultura
Rua Floriano Peixoto s/n, São José.
Tel [phone].
# 9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm
Sat, 9am-2pm Sun.
Used as a jail until 1973,
the former penitentiary now
houses the Casa da Cultura,
the city's largest arts and craft
market. Each of the old jail
cells holds a shop showcasing
some of the finest leather,
lace, and ceramic crafts
of this region. Built in 1850,
the jail was modeled after US
prisons in New Jersey and
Pennsylvania. The four wings
are in a cross shape, allowing
a view of all four corridors
from one vantage position in
the center of the cross. The
center brings out the monthly
Agenda Cultural , an excellent
listing of cultural events.

Ceramic tiles by
Francisco Brennand

Gardens in Oficina de Cerâmica Francisco Brennand, adorned with ceramic sculptures