In February 9, 1942, Archibald MacLeish, writes a letter to Portinari:

"...Since your return to Brazil, I have been wishing to express how much your work in the Congress Library means and will mean in the future. The moment I saw your first sketch - those little water-colors incredibly vivid, in which the wind blew and the men shouted and the forest vibrated intensely - I knew that a great work of art was about to be created on the Hispanic Foundation's walls ..."