Emiliano Di Cavalcanti – Woman with a Bird (1961)

A pioneer of Brazilian modernism, Emiliano Di Cavalcanti’s ideal had always been to capture the essence of his country without the influence of European art. It was, foremost, an issue of national pride, magnified by the fact that Latin Americans everywhere were searching for their own voice. This conviction was certainly strengthened by his years […]

Julio Galán – He Who Comes Must Go (1988)

Julio Galán has often been compared to Frida Kahlo, for they both hailed from Mexico, painted Surrealistic works and chose deeply personal subjects and symbols for their art. There was a big difference though. While Kahlo’s sensitivity and pain shone through as the essence of her art, with Galán you get the impression that he […]

Frida Kahlo – Self-Portrait in a Velvet Dress (1926)

Bedridden after the gruesome accident that left her pelvis, legs, spinal column, collarbone and ribs fractured, Frida Kahlo spent her long convalescence painting, reading voraciously, studying German and Italian Renaissance art and writing passionate letters to her boyfriend, Alejandro Gómez Arias. Although the couple was once inseparable, after the accident Alejandro started pulling away and […]

Ismael Nery – Desire for Love (1932)

“In the first place, let me treat of the nature of man and what has happened to it; for the original human nature was not like the present, but different”, says Aristophanes, the Greek playwright, at the beginning of his speech in Plato’s Symposium. “The sexes were not two as they are now, but originally […]

Leopoldo Méndez – Little School Teacher, How Great is Your Will (1948)

According to legend, the Aztecs were told by Huitzilopochtli, the Sun and War god, to leave their homes and look for the place where they would see an eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a snake. In that place, they were to build the most powerful empire in all Mesoamerica (Middle America). And […]

Tarsila do Amaral – Workers (1933)

After starting a relationship with communist doctor Osório Cesar and taking a tour of the Soviet Union, Brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral joined the Communist Party herself. The relationship was short lived, as was her infatuation with communism. A few of her works, however, remain as a reminder of her once strongly held political beliefs. […]

Carybé – The Death of Alexandrina (1939)

Although he was born in Argentina under the real name Héctor Julio Páride Bernabó, few artists have managed to capture as well as Carybé (1911 – 1997) the spirit and effervescence of Brazil. Enamored with the country’s rich culture and its people, the artist spent the second half of his life in Bahia, Brazil’s fourth […]

Claudio Bravo – Return from the Supermarket (1971)

Claudio Bravo (1936 – 2011) was a hyperrealist and surrealist painter from Chile. He attributed his inspiration to the Italian and Spanish masters of Baroque and Renaissance, but was also influenced by Dalí ’s surrealist works. He considered himself a citizen of the world, not bound by his identity to Chile. In the late 1960s, while […]