JOSÉ ROBERTO TEIXEIRA LEITE

Vive e trabalha em São Paulo/SP jrtleite@uol.com.br

Crítico e historiador de arte, pesquisador, curador e docente nascido no Rio de Janeiro em 1930. Doutor em arte pelo Instituto de Artes da Unicamp, com a tese A China no Brasil, publicou seu primeiro texto crítico em 1954, e o primeiro livro de arte, sobre Jheronimus Bosch, em 1956: seguiram-se desde então cerca de 40, entre os quais Gente Nova, Nova Gente, E. Boudin no Brasil, A Gravura Brasileira Contemporânea, Pancetti o Pintor Marinheiro, Pintura Moderna Brasileira, Galeria Borghese – Os Tesouros do Cardeal, Pintores Negros do Oitocentos, As Companhias das Indias e a Porcelana Chinesa de Encomenda, Dicionário Crítico da Pintura no Brasil, A China no Brasil, Di Cavalcanti e outros perfis, João Turin, O Oitocentos Brasileiro na Coleção Ricardo Brennand e Arte e Arquitetura no Brasil Holandês 1624-1654. Dirigiu de 1961 a 1964 o Museu Nacional de Belas Artes, e em 1963 criou a disciplina Critica de Arte no Instituto de Artes do então Estado da Guanabara. De 1966 em diante, a intervalos, lecionou Estética e História da Arte nas universidades Gama Filho e Federal do Rio de Janeiro, e História da Arte no Brasil na Universidade Estadual de Campinas, pela qual se aposentou em 2000. Em 1956 ingressou na Associação Brasileira de Críticos de Arte (cuja presidência exerceu entre 1995 e 2000, período caracterizado pela grande ênfase dada à América Latina), e recebeu da ABCA os prêmios Gonzaga Duque (1989 e 2000) e Sergio Milliet (2015). Por incumbência do Itamaraty, desempenhou missões culturais em países como Argentina, Portugal, França e Senegal, e a convite dos respectivos governos visitou Estados Unidos (1964), Taiwan (1992) e República Popular da China (2013). Art critic and art historian, researcher and teacher born in Rio de Janeiro in 1930. Doctor in Arts with the thesis “A China no Brasil” (China in Brazil), his first article on art and artists was published in 1954, and his first art book (on Jheronimus Bosch) two years later. Since then he became the author of some 40 books, dealing with Contemporary Brazilian Graphic Art, Negro XIXth Century Brazilian Painters, Spanish Painters in Brazil, The East India Companies and Chinese Export Porcelain, Modern Brazilian Painting, The Cardinal´s Treasuries: Galleria Borghese, A Critical Dictionary of Painting in Brazil, Art and Architecture on Dutch Brazil 1624-1654 etc. Director of the National Museum of Fine Arts (19611964), in 1963 he began a career as a teacher, at the Art Institute of Guanabara State. He later taught Aesthetics and Art History at the Gama Filho and Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and at the State University of Campinas, retiring by age in 2000. Member of the Brazilian Association of Art Critics since 1956, he acted as its president from 1995 to 2000 and received from that institution the prizes Gonzaga Duque (1989 and 2000) and Sergio Milliet (2015). By appointment of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he held official missions in Argentina, Colombia, Portugal, France and Senegal, and at the invitation of the respective governments visited the USA (1964), Taiwan (1992) and the Popular Republic of China (2013). Honorary member of the Brazilian Historical and Geographical Institute, co-founder of the Brazilian Committee of Art History, honorary president of the Argentinian Association of Art Critics and knight of the Order of the Merit of Senegal, he joined the boards of the National Council of Culture, the National Committee of Fine Arts, the Brazilian Institute for Education, Science and Culture etc.