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Lot Essay
It was in the decade of the twenties when Modernism entered into the Brazilian art scene. Not unlike the rest of Latin America, it arrived through the eyes and teachings of the artists that were fortunate to travel and study in Europe, who upon their return, implemented their knowledge to create an art of their own. Their concern was both formal and conceptual. Art had to respond to the modernist aesthetic ideas of composition while underlying the uniqueness of their own culture.
One of the interesting aspects of Brazilian modernism is its very characteristic iconography. The avant-gardes of the time commonly represented in their paintings the local and lush landscape as well as its people. This subject matter allowed them to differentiate themselves from European avant-gardes by adopting a nationalistic approach to the analysis of space and colour inherent in modernist painting. The subject matter became the major concern in terms of representation. It fully symbolised the idea of a growing nation and its perils. The depiction of city landscapes represented progress, while the figure, usually a mulato, stood for the hard working classes. Likewise, the female nude signifies the sensuality of the land.
Di Cavalcanti was one of the major exponents of this style. He created compositions in which the male or female figures harmoniously shared the space with the local landscape. Depicted in interior or exterior scenes, the figure usually dominates the pictorial space while the elements alluding to the local landscape appear framing the subjects. Modernist concerns in the relation of space and the figure where solved by Di Cavalcanti by using a light degradation of colour and the brush-stroke to define volume in mostly planar compositions.
The present painting from 1966 is a mature and complex composition where many elements of Di Cavalanti's native Brazil are represented colourfully. In it we see the mulata dominating the composition. Other female figures and various architectural elements that clearly define Brazilian culture surround her. The image of the virgin, the profile of the church and the facade of a small house along side the animals flying in the background, clearly allude to the myths of Brazil and its process of acculturation.
One of the interesting aspects of Brazilian modernism is its very characteristic iconography. The avant-gardes of the time commonly represented in their paintings the local and lush landscape as well as its people. This subject matter allowed them to differentiate themselves from European avant-gardes by adopting a nationalistic approach to the analysis of space and colour inherent in modernist painting. The subject matter became the major concern in terms of representation. It fully symbolised the idea of a growing nation and its perils. The depiction of city landscapes represented progress, while the figure, usually a mulato, stood for the hard working classes. Likewise, the female nude signifies the sensuality of the land.
Di Cavalcanti was one of the major exponents of this style. He created compositions in which the male or female figures harmoniously shared the space with the local landscape. Depicted in interior or exterior scenes, the figure usually dominates the pictorial space while the elements alluding to the local landscape appear framing the subjects. Modernist concerns in the relation of space and the figure where solved by Di Cavalcanti by using a light degradation of colour and the brush-stroke to define volume in mostly planar compositions.
The present painting from 1966 is a mature and complex composition where many elements of Di Cavalanti's native Brazil are represented colourfully. In it we see the mulata dominating the composition. Other female figures and various architectural elements that clearly define Brazilian culture surround her. The image of the virgin, the profile of the church and the facade of a small house along side the animals flying in the background, clearly allude to the myths of Brazil and its process of acculturation.