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The Arts Intel Report

Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism

Lasar Segall, Banana Plantation, 1927

Burlington House, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 0BD, United Kingdom

The origins of modernist art are typically traced to Europe and a familiar roster of names, among them Manet, Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso. In the 20th century, however, things were brewing on other continents. In Brazil, starting in the 1910s, artists were creating a modernism shaped by the Afro-Brazilian experience. Now coming to London are 130 works by 10 South American pioneers. —Elena Clavarino

Photo: Isabella Matheus. © Lasar Segall