Nicolina VAZ DE ASSIS Pinto do Couto (Campinas,... Lot 215

Nicolina VAZ DE ASSIS Pinto do Couto (Campinas, 1874 - Rio de Janeiro, 1941) Bust of a young woman with a dress adorned with flowers, Bronze proof with brown patina, dated 1905, located in Paris, Fondeur Barbedienne Base in griotte red marble. Total height: 68 cm (slight chips to the marble). At the age of 16, Nicolina married Dr. Benigno de Assis and, after his death, took care of his children. She then began to devote herself assiduously to sculpture, creating statues and busts using marble and bronze as raw materials. Some of these sculptures were posthumous in nature, commissioned by members of local families. In 1887, she received a grant from the São Paulo state government to study and perfect her skills at the Rio de Janeiro School of Fine Arts, now the National Museum of Fine Arts. There, she met sculptor Rodolfo Bernardelli and his brother Henrique Bernardelli, who was her teacher. In 1903, Bernardino de Campos, then Governor of São Paulo, awarded the sculptor a scholarship, this time to France. In Paris, the sculptor came up against prejudice: at the time, scholarships were the privilege of men. In view of the importance of the matter, the question was discussed at the National Congress, the outcome of which was favorable to the artist. Living in Paris from 1904 to 1907, she perfected her techniques with the great masters of contemporary art of the time, such as Jean Alexandre Joseph Falguière. She exhibited her work at the annual Salon de Paris and met her second husband, sculptor Rodolfo Pinto do Couto. Many of the artist's works decorate the gardens and parks of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Our bust is one of a series of busts of personalities and presidents of the Brazilian Republic.