Milton Rodrigues da Costa (Niterói, RJ, 1915 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 1988). Painter, draftsman, engraver, illustrator. Began studying drawing and painting in 1929 with the German professor August Hantv. The following year he enrolled in the free course of Marques Júnior (1887-1960), at Escola Nacional de Belas Artes (Enba), which was closed by the Revolution of 1930. Milton Dacosta, with Edson Motta (1910-1981), Bustamante Sá (1907-1988) and Ado Malagoli (1906-1994), among others, created Núcleo Bernardelli in 1931. His first solo exhibition took place in 1936, in Rio de Janeiro. That year he received an honorable mention at the Salão Nacional de Belas Artes. He traveled to the United States in 1945, with the prize of a trip abroad from the Salão Nacional de Belas Artes of the previous year. In New York City, he studied at the Art's Students League of New York. In 1946, he went to Lisbon, and met Almada Negreiros (1893-1970) and Antonio Pedro (1909-1966). After visiting several European countries, he settled in Paris, where he studied at the Académie de La Grande Chaumière. He met Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) through Cicero Dias (1907-2003), and attended the studios of Georges Braque (1882-1963) and Georges Rouault (1871-1958). He exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and returned to Brazil in 1947. In 1949, he married the painter Maria Leontina (1917-1984) and moved to São Paulo. In the 1950s, he developed a constructivist work, a characteristic that changes in the following decade; he returned to figurative works with the series of colorful Venus-themed prints made from etchings on metal.
MILTON Dacosta. In: ENCICLOPÉDIA Itaú Cultural de Arte e Cultura Brasileiras. São Paulo: Itaú Cultural, 2021. Available at: <http://enciclopedia.itaucultural.org.br/pessoa1612/milton-dacosta>. Accessed on: 25 Jun. 2021. Encyclopedia entry. ISBN: 978-85-7979-060-7