{{Short description|Brazilian artist (1858–1935)}} thumb|200px|Self-portrait (1883) '''Belmiro Barbosa de Almeida''' (22 May 1858 –12 June 1935) was a Brazilian painter, illustrator, sculptor and caricaturist. He is the Patron of the 39th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Fine Arts.<ref name="ABBASeats">{{cite web |title=De Cadeira (De Grau) |url=https://academiabrasileiradeartes.org.br/academicos/de-cadeira-de-grau/ |website=Academia Brasileira de Belas Artes |access-date=21 May 2026 |language=pt-BR}}</ref>
== Biography == Almeida was born in Serro. His first lessons were at the "Liceu de Artes e Ofícios" (School of Arts and Crafts) in Rio de Janeiro. Later, he enrolled at the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes, where he studied with Agostinho José da Mota and João Zeferino da Costa.<ref name="I">[http://enciclopedia.itaucultural.org.br/pessoa22617/belmiro-de-almeida Brief biography] @ the Enciclopédia Itaú Cultural.</ref>
In the late 1880s, he travelled to Rome and Paris, where he studied at the Académie Julian, worked in the studios of Jules Lefebvre<ref name="I" /> and participated in several Salons. After that time, having become enamored of the French capitol, he alternated his residence between Paris and Rio de Janeiro. In Brazil, from 1893 to 1896, he held the Chair of Drawing at the old "Escola Nacional de Belas Artes" (now part of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), substituting for Pedro Weingärtner.<ref name="E">[http://www.infoescola.com/biografias/belmiro-de-almeida/ Info Escola:] Brief biography.</ref> In 1916, he was appointed to the Chair for drawing from live models.
During this time, he also provided illustrations and caricatures for several local publications.<ref name="I" /> As a sculptor, he is best known for his figure of ''Manequinho'' (modeled after the ''Mannekin Pis'' in Brussels), which is on a public square in front of the Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas clubhouse and has become the club's mascot.
He settled in Paris permanently after World War I,<ref name="E" /> but continued to participate in the "Exposições Gerals de Belas Artes", winning the Grand Gold Medal in 1921. Perhaps his most famous painting is ''Arrufos'' (The Spat), which used the art critic Gonzaga Duque as a model. In turn, Almeida inspired a character in Duque's novel ''Mocidade Morta'' (The Death of Youth, 1899).
Almeida died in Paris on 12 June 1935.
==Selected paintings== <gallery mode="packed" heights="180"> File:Belmiro de Almeida - Príncipe Obá (MAB).jpg|''Prince Obá'' (1886) File:Belmiro de Almeida - A tagarela, 1893.jpg|''The Chatterbox'' (1893) File:Belmiro de Almeida - Vaso com flores, 1893.jpg|''Vase with Flowers'' (1893) File:Belmiro de Almeida - Arrufos, 1887.jpg|''Arrufos''<br /> (''The Spat''; 1887) File:Belmiro de Almeida - Rua da Itália.jpg|''Street in Italy'' (c. 1889) File:Belmiro de Almeida - A má notícia.jpg|A Má Notícia (1897) File:Belmiro de Almeida - Os descobridores - 1899.jpg|''The Discoverers'' (1899) File:Belmiro de Almeida - Menino com Bandolim.jpg|''Boy with Mandolin'' (1890s) File:Belmiro de Almeida - Namoro do Guarda.JPG|''The Guard's Flirt'' (1904) File:Belmiro de Almeida - Dame à La Rose.jpg|''Lady with Rose'' (c.1905) </gallery>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * José Maria dos Reis Júnior, ''Belmiro de Almeida, 1858-1935'', Edições Pinakotheke, 1984
==External links== {{commons category|Belmiro de Almeida}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20181124170249/http://www.entreculturas.com.br/2010/08/pintura-belmiro-de-almeida/ Entre Culturas:] An extensive critical appreciation of Almeida and his major works.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Almeida, Belmiro de}} Category:1858 births Category:1935 deaths Category:Genre painters Category:Brazilian caricaturists Category:Brazilian emigrants to France Category:19th-century Brazilian painters Category:Brazilian male painters Category:19th-century Brazilian male artists Category:20th-century Brazilian painters Category:20th-century Brazilian male artists Category:People from Serro