Abelardo da Hora (1924-2014) was a Brazilian sculptor, draftsman, engraver, and ceramicist. He became known for depicting women and regional themes, standing out as one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century in Pernambuco.
Abelardo Germano da Hora (1924-2014) was born on the lands of the Tiúma Mill, in the city of São Lourenço da Mata, Pernambuco, on July 31, 1924. He studied Decorative Arts at the Professor Agamenon Magalhães Industrial School. He enrolled in the Law School of Olinda and attended the Free Sculpture Course at the School of Fine Arts in Recife, where he was a student of Cassimiro Correia.
In 1942, he led the Academic Directory of Fine Arts. Between 1943 and 1945, he was hired by the industrialist Ricardo Brennand to work at the São João Ceramics, during which time he created various works with regional motifs. During his 
time at the ceramics, he served as a mentor to the future ceramicist Francisco Brennand.
In 1946, along with Hélio Feijó and other artists, he participated in the creation of the Modern Art Society of Recife, serving as its director for almost ten years. In 1948, he held his first sculpture exhibition at the Association of Commerce Employees of Pernambuco, the first sculpture exhibition held in Recife. In 1952, Abelardo da Hora founded the “Ateliê Coletivo” with artists Gilvan Samico, Wilton de Souza, Wellington Virgulino, Ionaldo, Ivan Carneiro, and 
Márius Lauritzen, where he was a teacher and director until 1957.
Between 1955 and 1956, he created several sculptures representing popular culture for the Recife City Hall, including: “The Singers and the Sugarcane Seller” in Parque 13 de Maio, “The Sertanejo” in Praça Euclides da Cunha, in front of the International Club, and “The Lollipop Seller” in the Dois Irmãos garden. In 1956, he was elected delegate of 
Pernambuco to the Brazilian Section of the International Association of Plastic Arts, UNESCO.
Between 1957 and 1958, he held several exhibitions in the United States, Europe, Argentina, Mongolia, the Soviet Union, Israel, and China. In 1960, he conceived the municipal law for Works of Art in Buildings in Recife, during Miguel Arraes’s government, which required constructions over 1,500 square meters to have works of art, a sculpture, or a mural, turning the city into an open-air art gallery.
In 1962, he published his emblematic album “The Boys of Recife,” with engravings made with a quill, showing the miseries around the city. In 1967, he launched the collection of drawings “Brazilian Carnival Dances,” presented at the Mirante das Artes Gallery in São Paulo. Still in the 1960s, he was the Director of Parks and Gardens and Director of the Division of Plastic Arts and Crafts in Recife. He founded the Popular Culture Movement, which brought together not only plastic arts but also music, dance, and theater.
A recurring theme in Abelardo da Hora’s work was women, with the female body, nude and in an expressionist vein, as well as social and regional themes, which will remain immortalized in the works left in every corner of the city of Recife. Among them stand out: “Reclining Woman” at Shopping Center Recife, “Mermaid Woman” at Mar Hotel, “Monument to Maracatu” near the Forte das Cinco Pontas, “Monument to Frevo” on Rua da Aurora, “Monument to Zumbi dos Palmares” in Praça do Carmo, “Enéas Freire and the Galo da Madrugada” in Praça Sérgio Loreto, “Monument to the Heroes of the 1817 Revolution” in Praça da República, and “The Migrants” in Parque Dona Lindu.
Abelardo da Hora passed away in Recife, Pernambuco, on December 23, 2014.
Source: www.ebiografia.com, by Dilva Frazão