Viewing Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism at Royal Academy of Arts

This exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts is an unprecedented and ambitious look at Brazilian modern art in the twentieth century, through more than 130 artworks by ten major Brazilian figures. Many of the works, on loan from both private and public collections, have never been shown in the UK before, revealing astonishing new connections and introducing a different perspective of modernism to many audiences.

Starting in the 1910s and winding up in the 1970s, this survey shows how Brazilian artists adapted global contemporary art trends in their own language and for their own purposes, informed by the tropical topographies, indigenous cultures and diverse specificities of Brazil. This plays out through celebrated names – such as Tarsila do Amaral, one of South America’s leading modern artists, known for her unique adaptation of techniques learned from the French painter Fernand Léger (her former teacher), and lucidly coloured urban scenes of cities like Sao Paulo.

There are also less familiar but internationally important figures, including self-taught indigenous artist Rubem Valentim, who hailed from Salvador, Bahia, and initially trained as a dentist. His vibratory works drew on the mythical values of afro-brazilian culture. In a 1976 manifesto he wrote passionately: “the Afro-Amerindian-Northeastern-Brazilian iconology is alive. It is an immense source—as big as Brazil—and we must drink in it with lucidity and great love.” We suggest you to the RA and do the same.