Scene of farmworkers' house (verso: Coffee plant with worker wedding), 1931, pencil and gouache on paper, 8 1/4 x 7 1/8 in
"I feel increasingly Brazilian: I want to be the painter of my country. How grateful I am to have spent my whole childhood on the farm. The memories of that time are becoming ever more precious to me. In art, I want to be the São Bernardo caipirinha, playing with dolls made of plants, as in the latest work I’m painting."
— Tarsila do Amaral [1]
In 1928, Brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral (b. 1886, Capivari, State of São Paulo, Brazil - d. 1973, Sao Paulo, Brazil) gifted her iconic painting "Abaporu" to her then-husband Oswald de Andrade, symbolizing their quest for a uniquely Brazilian art. This marked the birth of the "Manifesto Antropofago," advocating metaphorical cannibalism as a means for Brazilian artists to blend European modernism with their own culture. Amaral's journey began in conservative art education in São Paulo, followed by Parisian studies. Inspired by Cubism, she returned to Brazil in 1923, embracing her identity and exploring the country's rural culture. Her Pau-Brasil period depicted Brazilian landscapes with Cubist influences. Moving into the Anthropophagic period (1928–30), Amaral's work took on surreal and dreamlike qualities. In the following decade, she addressed social and political issues using her unique visual language influenced by Social Realism. After her death in 1973, recognition of Amaral's significance in art history grew. Major retrospectives in 1987 and 2017 showcased her work internationally. Her concept of Anthropophagy remains relevant in challenging traditional art history narratives, emphasizing her influence as a female Brazilian artist.