Inventing Modernism
Tarsila do Amaral at MoMA
Modernism was a global movement with communities in dialogue and absorbing various schools of thought and practices. However, canonically speaking, European modernism has always taken center stage. As much as Picasso or Matisse or Giacometti deserve credit, it is important to note the major contributions of artists outside of the heady Parisian scene. In many ways, major institutions are starting to fix this issue with overdue acquisitions and surveys of overlooked artists. The latest in this course correction is a new exhibition featuring the work of the Brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral (better known simply as Tarsila) at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Organized jointly between MoMA and the Art Institute of Chicago, Tarsila do Amaral: Inventing Modern Art in Brazil brings together the work of an artistic titan who combined influences ranging from Surrealism, Brazilian tribal history, modern poetry, and Fauvism. It’s sadly not a surprise that although Tarsila was credited as a founding creator of Brazilian modernism, she has had almost no representation in exhibitions in the United States. This show aims to change that as soon as possible.
Along with her paintings, the artist was a fascinating figure. Tarsila was educated in the arts as a child, but left for Paris in 1920 to study art seriously with modern masters. She returned to Brazil and embraced the color and biomorphic forms that Cubism rejected. The courage and talent of an independent voice was clear from an early age. This makes her paintings feel all the more potent, but unlike many of her anxious contemporaries in Europe or the United States, Tarsila embraced a form of modernism that depicted the communities and people around her with color and sunshine. Modernity in Brazil, according to Tarsila’s husband Oswald de Andrade, meant a conglomeration of styles, practices, and cultures. Brazilian culture, in a modern sense, was a form of “cannibalism.” It was also a move towards colonial liberation: celebrate your own history and use every outside influence as material. To summarize: exploit your exploiter!
Carnival in Madureira from 1924 is a fascinating painting, and certainly represents de Andrade’s ideas about a new Brazilian art. Shown on the canvas are rolling hills, tropical vegetation, the abstracted figures of townspeople in Brazilian garb, and flags that decorate what appears to be the Eiffel Tower (or a carnival reproduction). Everything is painted in bright color. You can see the fine art influence of Franz Marc and Diego Rivera, but one cannot help to think that perhaps the miniature Eiffel Tower is somehow a critique directed towards Europe. This is plausible since political and cultural commentary can be seen in works throughout Tarsila’s career. The only harsh corners within the painting (in drab brown and tan, no less) come from the tower. Paris, and all that it represented at the time, is reduced to a carnival attraction while people are truly living their lives below.
Needless to say, this exhibition is important for a more inclusive and nuanced understanding of art history. This is an artist who deserved more international recognition for decades, and today she is receiving her dues. Hopefully in the future we (i.e.- western culture) won’t need to look back and “rediscover” artists like Tarsila, but until that day comes, this survey is a timely reminder to broaden one’s view of art, politics, and the world at large.
