Tarsila do Amaral

Origin

Capivari, SP

Years active

1916–1973

Genres

modern art, modernism

Instruments

brush

Biography

Tarsila do Amaral was born in Capivari, in the interior of São Paulo, in 1886, and established herself as one of the most important figures of Brazilian modernism. Hailing from a wealthy family of coffee farmers, she studied art in Spain and in Paris at the Académie Julian, before joining the famous Group of Five alongside artists such as Anita Malfatti and Oswald de Andrade. Her artistic trajectory is marked by distinct phases, such as the Pau-Brasil phase and the Antropofagia phase, the latter inspired by her celebrated work Abaporu and Oswald de Andrade's Anthropophagous Manifesto.

Throughout her career, Tarsila traveled extensively through Europe and Brazil, incorporating influences from international movements such as cubism, surrealism, and futurism, but reinterpreting them through a nationalist and tropical lens. She produced iconic paintings such as A Negra, ECFB, and Morro de Favela, using vibrant colors and themes linked to indigenous culture, the Brazilian landscape, and later, social issues, as seen in the work Segunda Classe. In addition to painting, she worked as a draftswoman, illustrator, and columnist for the Diário de São Paulo.

Tarsila passed away in São Paulo in 1973, leaving a monumental legacy composed of hundreds of works, including paintings, drawings, and sculptures that shaped the identity of Latin American art. Her work continues to receive international recognition in major retrospectives at prestigious institutions, such as MoMA in New York and the Musée de Luxembourg in Paris, reaffirming her central position in Brazil's culture alongside names like Mário de Andrade.