Tarsila do Amaral

Tarsila do Amaral painted a view of small, colourful houses in a hilly, overgrown landscape. Darker wooden huts stand between the houses. A few Black people – adults and children – and two animals – a dog and a bird – bring the scene to life. A stone bridge leads to the settlement on the left. All the objects and figures are represented in reduced forms, which are particularly striking in the oval shapes of the plants. Amaral, who came from a wealthy family, also became familiar with rural culture during her childhood. She remarked:

“I feel more and more Brazilian: I want to be the painter of my homeland. How grateful I am to have spent my entire childhood on the farm.”

Amaral grew up on her father’s coffee plantations, which belonged to the rural coffee oligarchy. She was born in 1886, two years before slavery was abolished in Brazil. But the thousands of former slaves were not integrated into society. In search of work and housing, they moved to the cities, where the favelas were born. The term favela was first used around 1900 to describe a hill in the port area of Rio de Janeiro. The hill was called Morro de Favela, meaning hill of the favela. Favela is the Portuguese name of a typical Brazilian plant that grew at that location. Former soldiers and slaves built makeshift shelters on the hill.

Amaral took up this social theme, but presented the viewer with a peaceful idyll. The colours of the houses and the way in which they are embedded in a harmonious natural environment contribute to a simplification of the real conditions. Today, such trivialisation is seen as problematic.