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Tarsila do Amaral: Inventing Modern Art in Brazil
An exploration of the innovative, quintessentially Brazilian painter who merged modernism with the brilliant energy and culture of her homeland
Tarsila do Amaral (1886–1973) was a central figure at the genesis of modern art in her native Brazil, and her influence reverberates throughout 20th- and 21st-century art. Although relatively little-known outside Latin America, her work deserves to be understood and admired by a wide contemporary audience. This publication establishes her rich background in European modernism, which included associations in Paris with artists Fernand Léger and Constantin Brancusi, dealer Ambroise Vollard, and poet Blaise Cendrars. Tarsila (as she is known affectionately in Brazil) synthesized avant-garde aesthetics with Brazilian subjects, creating stylized, exaggerated figures and landscapes inspired by her native country that were powerful emblems of the Brazilian modernist project known as Antropofagía.
Featuring a selection of Tarsila’s major paintings, this important volume conveys her vital role in the emerging modern-art scene of Brazil, the community of artists and writers (including poets Oswald de Andrade and Mário de Andrade) with whom she explored and developed a Brazilian modernism, and how she was subsequently embraced as a national cultural icon. At the same time, an analysis of Tarsila’s legacy questions traditional perceptions of the 20th-century art world and asserts the significant role that Tarsila and others in Latin America had in shaping the global trajectory of modernism.
Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago
Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
(10/08/17–01/07/18) Museum of Modern Art
(02/11/18–06/03/18)
Tarsila do Amaral (1886–1973) was a central figure at the genesis of modern art in her native Brazil, and her influence reverberates throughout 20th- and 21st-century art. Although relatively little-known outside Latin America, her work deserves to be understood and admired by a wide contemporary audience. This publication establishes her rich background in European modernism, which included associations in Paris with artists Fernand Léger and Constantin Brancusi, dealer Ambroise Vollard, and poet Blaise Cendrars. Tarsila (as she is known affectionately in Brazil) synthesized avant-garde aesthetics with Brazilian subjects, creating stylized, exaggerated figures and landscapes inspired by her native country that were powerful emblems of the Brazilian modernist project known as Antropofagía.
Featuring a selection of Tarsila’s major paintings, this important volume conveys her vital role in the emerging modern-art scene of Brazil, the community of artists and writers (including poets Oswald de Andrade and Mário de Andrade) with whom she explored and developed a Brazilian modernism, and how she was subsequently embraced as a national cultural icon. At the same time, an analysis of Tarsila’s legacy questions traditional perceptions of the 20th-century art world and asserts the significant role that Tarsila and others in Latin America had in shaping the global trajectory of modernism.
Distributed for the Art Institute of Chicago
Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
(10/08/17–01/07/18) Museum of Modern Art
(02/11/18–06/03/18)
- GenresArt
192 pages, Hardcover
Published October 31, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 24, 2017
This was an illuminating exploration of an artist essential to the development of modernism, even as she forged her path infusing her Brazilian heritage and culture into her striking paintings!
May 21, 2018
If you don’t know Tarsila, the book will give you a brief introduction about her. It also contain most of her works, which are very impressive.
July 25, 2019
Good introduction to Brazilian artist Tarsila. Copious and large reproductions of her major works.
March 5, 2018
The art reproductions in this volume are beautiful and this is a lovely accompaniment to the exhibition, but I found the essays somewhat over my head. The most enjoyable texts were at the end, where you could read Tarsila's own writing as well as that of her contemporaries.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews