Histórias da loucura

The exhibition presents 100 drawings made by inmates of Psychiatric Hospital of Juquery, located in Franco da Rocha, (São Paulo). The works were part of the collection of Dr. Osório Thaumaturgo Cesar (b. 1895-1979), founder and Director of the fEscola Livre de Artes Plásticas, who worked at the hospital between 1956 and the mid-1970. Dr. Cesar entered as a student at the Psychiatric Hospital of Juquery in 1923 and started working in this institution between 1925 until 1964, when he retired because of military pressure. A noted psychiatrist of Juquery for more than four decades, Dr. Osorio Caesar was one of the pioneers in Brazil to research and apply the use of art as a therapeutic resource in psychiatric patients. He was married to artist Tarsila do Amaral.