Brazilian Art and Architecture, Post-independence

Often situated within the broader discipline of Latin American art, Brazilian art is distinguished by a unique linguistic and colonial history. Following the first encounter of Brazilian territory in 1500, the Portuguese attempted to pacify the different Indigenous tribes comprising the Tupi people occupying the territories along the Atlantic coast. Many tribes were put to work in the service of the Crown, particularly in harvesting commodities such as the red dye extracted from Brazilwood, the tree that gave Brazil its name. The Indigenous peoples, many of whom were decimated upon contact with heretofore unknown and infectious diseases brought from Europe, were later replaced by a huge influx of African enslaved people who were put to work on sugar plantations. A mixture of African, Indigenous, and Portuguese traditions thus characterizes much of Brazilian art well into the 20th century. One distinguishing feature of Brazilian artistic traditions was the arrival of the Portuguese royal family and their court to Brazil in 1807. Fearing the arrival of Napoleon’s army, the Portuguese king, John VI, fled to Rio de Janeiro, establishing the only monarchy in the Americas, which he ruled until 1822, when Brazil gained its independence. During the 19th century, Rio was established as the political and cultural capital of the Portuguese Empire. In 1816, the French Artistic Mission, comprising a group of French artists arrived in Rio to establish the first art academy there. The discussion of a nationally specific Brazilian art became possible during the 19th century, after the establishment of the first artistic institution dedicated to the teaching of art, the Royal School of Sciences, Arts and Crafts, which was later renamed the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts (it underwent several other name changes through the century). The French Artistic Mission was dominated by European, namely, French artistic models, a practice that continued well into the 20th century. The transition from the 19th to the 20th century brought with it not only significant social upheavals, including the abolition of slavery in 1888, but also a renewed interest in a nationally specific Brazilian art. Modernism in Brazilian art had its culminating moment in 1922 with Modern Art Week in São Paulo, establishing this growing urban center as an important venue for the production and circulation of art. This renewal was furthered with the foundation of the São Paulo Biennial in 1951. By the 1960s and 1970s, Brazilian art was exhibited in important international exhibitions, and today Brazilian artists have a strong presence in all major international art fairs and biennials. Contemporary art, although the most difficult to classify as having any specifically Brazilian traits, is also the most well-known art by international audiences.