Ricardo, formerly a Symbolist poet, became a late adherent to Brazilian modernism and co-founded the mystical nationalist journal Novíssima.[1] In the following year, 1926, he launched the Green-Yellow movement,[1] with Menotti del Picchia, Cândido Motta Filho and Plínio Salgado.[2] In 1928, he co-founded the Flag group, again with Menotti del Picchia and Cândido Motta Filho.[3]
His 1928 book Marcha para Oeste supported the frontier for being both anti-liberal and democratic.[4] He held a hierarchical view of such a society with the whites holding "the spirit of adventure and command".[5]
In 1937, he was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Letters, where he campaigned for the Modernist poets to be formally recognized and appreciated.[3]