The book Manual de Ciência Popular (1981) by Waltercio Caldas (b. 1946) is part of the ABC—Arte Brasileira Contemporânea—collection that Funarte (Fundacão Nacional das Artes) began publishing in 1978. In time, the collection became a pioneering bibliographical reference library about Brazilian art in the 1960s and 1970s. Over the course of its sixteen year lifespan the series recorded the life and work of outstanding artists such as Anna Bella Geiger [see the ICAA digital archive (doc. no. 1111066)], Carlos Vergara, Rubens Gerchman (doc. no. 1111072), Artur Barrio (doc. no. 1111068), Antonio Dias (doc. no. 1111067), Wesley Duke Lee (doc. no. 1111074), Lygia Clark (doc. no. 1111070), Cildo Meireles (doc. no. 1111069), Lygia Pape (doc. no. 1111071), and Antonio Manuel. The authors who wrote about these artists included Ronaldo Brito, Paulo Sérgio Duarte, Fernando Cocchiarale, Hélio Oiticica, Mario Pedrosa, Paulo Venâncio Filho, Frederico Morais, and Ferreira Gullar, among others.
Waltercio Caldas began to make a name for himself in the Rio de Janeiro art world in the late 1960s. He took part in a landmark exhibition of the period, the Salão da Bússola, organized by the MAM-RJ (Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro) in 1969. See the article about this event by Antonio Manuel (doc. no. 1111094) in the ICAA digital archive. Caldas was a founding contributor to the magazine Malasartes—see the interview with the founders of the publication (doc. no. 1110556)—and, since then, has stood out in the Brazilian visual arts with his innovating works.
The critic and curator Paulo Venâncio Filho began to attract attention in the 1970s as a result of his articles and essays. His work has earned him a place of distinction in Brazilian art circles.