Editorial data

Estética, an important publication of the Brazilian modernist movement, subtitled quarterly magazine, began circulation in September 1924. Two other issues were released in the following year: the first covering the months of January to March, and the final one corresponding to the period from April to June. The periodical was published regularly, which was not always the case with avant-garde magazines.

The direction and administration were undertaken by Prudente de Moraes, neto and Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, who were then two young students at the Faculdade Nacional de Direito. The magazine did not have its own headquarters, so much so that the editorial office was at the Livraria Odeon, located at Avenida Rio Branco, 157, in Rio de Janeiro, an indication of the project’s precarious professionalism. The first issue alone mentions that the printing was carried out at the Pestana & Irmãos workshop, located at Rua D. Manoel, 20, but thanks to Prudente’s testimony in the first facsimile edition of the magazine, dated 1974, we know that the Ponguetti brothers, based at the Paulo, Pongetti & Cia press, located on Avenida Mem de Sá, 67 and 68 oversaw the other two issues.

Regarding the print run, there is no information inside the magazine; however, the director also clarified that although one thousand copies were planned, that amount had to be reduced to eight hundred, because of costs. The 2$000 (two thousand réis) price of the inaugural issue was increased to 3$000 (three thousand réis) for the second and final ones. Also of note is the fact that the subscription, costing 8$000 (eight thousand réis), was only mentioned in the first two instalments and almost certainly included four issues, even though this data was not specified. Information such as this was included on a page on which the names of future contributors were listed, in addition to announcements of upcoming titles and authors, as a way of persuading readers of the publication’s relevance.

As for the graphic design, the magazine contrasted with its predecessor, since Klaxon, a modern art monthly (São Paulo, 1922-1923) distinguished itself by the boldness of the cover, while Estética featured a discreet cover, containing essential information about the publication, inspired by the example of the British periodical The Criterion (London, 1922-1939). Each issue had around 120 pages, with good legibility and an elegant variation in the use of spacing, fonts, bold, and italics. Only in the advertisements, which were in fact few, always identical, and obtained through the personal connections of Prudente de Moraes, neto, were illustrations used. We know that the drawings for Guaraná Espumante and Chocolate Lacta were by Pedro Nava, despite not being signed, and that the Dannemann cigars ads were made using a cliché provided by the company. In the second and third issues, before the periodical’s content proper, two or three pages listed both recently published and soon upcoming books.

Also according to Prudente de Moraes, neto, the magazine was distributed in Rio de Janeiro, but also in São Paulo, by Livraria Garroux, then directed by José Olympio; in Belo Horizonte by Pedro Nava, and in Recife by Joaquim Inojosa, and counted just over two hundred subscribers.

Estética gathered a select set of collaborators, such as Manuel Bandeira, Mário de Andrade, Graça Aranha, Renato de Almeida, Couto de Barros, Álvaro Moreyra, Menotti del Picchia, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Sérgio Milliet, in addition to texts by the directors, devoted especially to criticism. It was the first organ to be printed outside São Paulo, the city where the Semana de Arte Moderna was held in 1922, until financial problems prevented the continuation of the publication.

Helen de Oliveira Silva