Jeanete and Bruno Musatti, São Paulo, acquired directly from the artist Acquired from the above by the present owner
Literature
Casa e Jardim, September 1978, p. 104 for a similar example Aric Chen, Brazil Modern: The Rediscovery of Twentieth-Century Brazilian Furniture, New York, 2016, p. 284 for a similar example
Catalogue Essay
The present bench comes from the 'Denúncia' series, a period of Caldas’s creative output shaped by his radical views against the destructive outcomes of global industrialisation, which upset him due to the alarming rise of deforestation across technologically advancing countries during the twentieth century. The consequent waste created by the vast expanse of felled trees in Nova Viçosa, a southern region in the Brazilian state of Bahia, gave the artist a new approach to his pieces - one which involved a return to handcrafted fabrication techniques learned from local craftspeople to carve and chisel distinct pieces from salvaged remnants abandoned by a large lumber company that had previously operated in the area. The legacy of these pieces preserve a commentary for Caldas’s passion for the efforts of forest preservation and ecology; by honouring the personality and integrity of each piece of wood, allowing each’s unique combination of form, grain, colour and texture to inform the design and eventual outcome as a chair or table, Caldas’s ‘Denúncia’ works celebrate the natural beauty of Brazilian hardwoods and are highly desirable for their sensitivity in craftsmanship and inherent uniqueness.
The present bench was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro in 1975.
