South American Art

South American Art

Djanira da Motta e Silva: Gentle Documentalist of Brazilian Life

Djanira da Motta e Silva (1914-1979) was born in a very humble family, in Avare, São Paulo state in Brazil. She started to paint in her twenties...

Alicja Gluszek 19 June 2023

Women Artists

Lygia Pape and Neo-Concretism: Art Is an Experience

Breaking with all the patterns of what had been art in Latin America up to then, Lygia Pape with Grupo Frente created a unique Brazilian artistic...

Dévra Taboada 19 June 2023

Women Artists

Violeta Parra, The First Latin American in the Louvre Palace

In April 1964 the Musée des Arts décoratifs in the north-western wing of the Louvre Palace hosted an extraordinary exhibition that went down in...

Magda Michalska 19 June 2023

South American Art

The Link Between Shipibo Pottery and Female Identity: Designs from the Peruvian Amazon

Along the Ucayali River of Northeastern Peru, women from the Shipibo-Conibo villages have been composing striking, geometric designs to cover...

Lauren Dorsey 19 June 2023

Artist Stories

Life and Art of José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior

José Ferraz de Almeida Júnior (1850–1899) was a popular Brazilian artist from the late 19th century. His commendable paintings paved the...

Maya M. Tola 30 March 2023

Beatriz Milhazes, Sonho Tropical, 2017, White Cube Gallery, London, UK. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Sonho Tropical by Beatriz Milhazes

Sonho Tropical is a visual feast of abstract art infused with the passion for a Brazilian landscape. Beatriz Milhazes fuses European modernity with...

James W Singer 13 March 2023

Design

Turquoise: Art, Culture, and Myth of a Gemstone

The bright blue-green Turquoise has been valued and revered for centuries by all the cultures around the world that had access to it. Several...

Nadine Waldmann 13 March 2023

Artist Stories

Tarsila do Amaral: Joy is the Decisive Test

Tarsila do Amaral left behind 230 paintings, five sculptures, and hundreds of drawings, prints, and murals. She led Brazilian art into modernism. In...

Alicja Gluszek 19 February 2023

Women Artists

The Beautiful Self-Portraits of Abigail de Andrade

History of art is full of fascinating female artists: Artemisia Gentileschi, Mary Cassatt, Tarsila do Amaral, Tamara de Lempicka… Now, I would like...

Rute Ferreira 19 February 2023

Women Artists

Anita Malfatti: The First Modernist of Brazil

Portraits of women made by other women are always worthy of attention. The representation of a woman by another is often less idealized or...

Rute Ferreira 19 February 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Rain by Oswaldo Goeldi

Whether it’s a dream or a memory, it does not matter. Our gaze is immediately drawn to a bright red umbrella that hangs in the black air like a...

Rute Ferreira 8 November 2022

Great Princess Mama Occollo, ca 1850-70, oil on canvas mounted on wood, Cuzco, Peru, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, USA. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Great Princess Mama Occollo

Great Princess Mama Occollo is an amazing masterpiece of South American art from the 19th century in the collection of the Denver Art Museum. It...

James W Singer 24 October 2022