Emiliano Di Cavalcanti

Emiliano Di Cavalcanti was a Brazilian painter who sought to produce a form of Brazilian art free of any noticeable European influences. He was influenced by the intellectuals he met at his home of his maternal uncle, a figure of the abolitionist movement. He started his artistic career as a caricaturist and illustrator for magazines and newspapers. He was one of the organizers of the Modern Art Week in São Paulo in 1922, which marked the beginning of modernism in Brazil. He lived in Paris from 1923 to 1925 and from 1938 to 1940, where he met and befriended many avant-garde artists, such as Picasso, Matisse, Braque, and Léger. He returned to Brazil with a renewed sense of nationalism and a desire to create a true Brazilian art. He joined the Brazilian Communist Party and participated in several social and political movements. He was arrested and exiled several times for his leftist views. He was also a prolific writer and published two volumes of memoirs, as well as essays and poems. His paintings are characterized by vibrant colors, expressive forms, and sensual themes. He depicted Brazilian women, especially the mulatas, as well as carnival scenes, fishermen, prostitutes, and urban landscapes. He is considered one of the most important and influential modernist painters in Brazil.