I have been startled to discover, which I probably should have known, that there was an exhibition of Brazilian paintings held at the Royal Academy in 1944 under the title Exhibition of Modern Brazilian Paintings, with an exhibition catalogue whose preface was written by Sacheverell Sitwell.   The authorities seem not to have bern particularly enthusiastic about the project, since the Tate, the National Gallery and the V&A all turned the exhibition down even in spite of the fact that all three had acres of empty galleries and Munnings, the then PRA, insisted on a statement in the catalogue to the effect that ‘no responsibility for its quality will rest on the Royal Academy’.   But this did not prevent over 100,000 people visiting the exhibition, including the Queen.