Brazil's year-old Museu de Arte was jammed with granfinos (upper-crusters). Outside in the warm spring rain, hundreds more art lovers queued up, patiently awaiting their turn. It was the opening day of Cândido Portinari's first exhibition in Sāo Paulo in 14 years.
Portinari (TIME, July 28, 1947) had long been Brazil's No. 1 painter, and so recognized abroad; he is also an energetic Communist. Before Communism was outlawed in Brazil, Portinari once ran for Senator, almost made it with 300,000 votes. Nowadays Portinari lives with his wife and son in a comfortable house on the hillside overlooking Rio de Janeiro, but he...
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