Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism Exhibition

If you're craving a taste of sunshine in the last of London's wintery days, check out an exhibition on at London's Royal Academy on emergence of Brazilian modernism. Spotlighting ten artists—including female pioneers Tarsila do Amaral, Anita Malfatti and Djanira da Motta e Silva, Afro-Brazilian artist Rubem Valentim and performance artist Flávio de Carvalho—the exhibition centres on art from the period between 1910-1970s.

It may be common for art to define a time, and perhaps a place—but very rarely does it contribute so forcefully to the formation of a national identity. Brazilian modernism marked the first time artists, writers, intellectuals and poets sought to celebrate Brazil's cultural uniqueness, moving away from old-fashioned tastes of the colonial past. Every day labourers and communities, including Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian people, were brought to the fore, and tropical landscapes took centre stage.

Much of these works were embraced by the Tropicália movement in the 1960s, influencing the sunny jazz and samba sounds that are now synonymous with Brazil.

Read our deep dive on this subversive artistic vision—and the women who fought for it.

Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism in on at the Royal Academy in London from 28 January - 21 April 2025. For more information, visit the Royal Academy website.