Primitives in Paris, Moderns in Brazil

The question of primitivism has returned with force in the 21st century, entangled with contemporary debates around counter-coloniality. A negra (1923), by Tarsila do Amaral, is today a source of controversy for its problematic depiction of a racialised body. At the time, however, it was intended as a statement of modernity. Painted in Paris, the work was part of a broader effort to gain recognition for Brazilian art in the French capital.

This talk focuses on the attempts made by certain Brazilian artists and intellectuals—most notably Tarsila and Vicente do Rego Monteiro—to gain a foothold in Parisian artistic circles. Both engaged with the then-fashionable idea of primitivism as a route to legitimacy and acclaim. Upon returning to Brazil, they repositioned themselves as exponents of a forward-looking modernism. By unpacking the strategies they employed and highlighting both similarities and differences, we can better understand the dialectic between primitivism and cosmopolitanism. Particular attention is given to the Pau Brasil movement, emphasising its conceptual specificity as a challenge to coloniality.

Organised by MAC/CCB in collaboration with the Institute of Art History, NOVA FCSH.

With Rafael Cardoso, art historian and author of Modernidade em preto e branco: Arte e imagem, raça e identidade no Brasil, 1890–1945 (2022).

As part of the exhibition An Atlantic Drift. The arts of the 20th century based on the Berardo Collection