Francisco Brennand

Francisco Brennand, (1927-2019), was born in Recife, Brazil. He was a descendant from an Irish ancestor who migrated to Recife in 1820. Francisco’s father, Ricardo, had a ceramic tile business. Ricardo sent his son to Europe in order to study technical ceramic skills. Francisco arrived in Paris in 1949, and discovered the ceramic work of Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro and Fernand Leger.

In 1971 he returned to his father’s tile factory and proceeded to turn the factory into what would become the Oficina Brennand, producing both tiles and his own ceramic sculptures. The Oficina Brennand displays over 2,000 pieces of Brennand’s ceramic art. His work often returned to themes of the human body, eggs, animals, and fruit. His ceramic murals and panels can be seen in various corporate and public spaces in Brazil.

In 1985 he received the medal of “Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” from the French Ministry of Culture. In 1986 he represented Brazil at the 44th Venice Biennial. In 1993, the Staatliche in Berlin held a major retrospective of his work. The same year he received the Inter-American Prize of Culture Gabriela Mistral, awarded by the OEA.  He has been called “Brazil’s greatest ceramicist.”