The Modern Art Week ( pt, Semana de Arte Moderna) was an

arts festival An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and isn't solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lite ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, Brazil, that ran from February 10 to February 17, 1922. Historically, the Week marked the start of Brazilian

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

; though a number of individual Brazilian artists were doing modernist work before the week, it coalesced and defined the movement and introduced it to Brazilian society at large. For Brazil, it was as important as the International Exhibition of Modern Art (also known as the

Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was a show organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors in 1913. It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of ...

), held in New York City in 1913, which became a legendary watershed date in the history of American art. The Week took place at the Municipal Theater in São Paulo, and included plastic arts exhibitions, lectures, concerts, and reading of poems. In its breadth it differed significantly from the Armory Show, with which it is often compared, but which featured only

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts ...

. It was organized chiefly by painter Emiliano Di Cavalcanti and poet

Mário de Andrade Mário Raul de Morais Andrade (October 9, 1893 – February 25, 1945) was a Brazilian poet, novelist, musicologist, art historian and critic, and photographer. He wrote one of the first and most influential collections of modern Brazilian poet ...

, in an attempt to bring to a head a long-running conflict between the young modernists and the cultural establishment, headed by the

Brazilian Academy of Letters The Academia Brasileira de Letras (ABL) ( English: ''Brazilian Academy of Letters'') is a Brazilian literary non-profit society established at the end of the 19th century. The first president, Machado de Assis, declared its foundation on Tue ...

, which adhered strictly to

academicism Academic art, or academicism or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie ...

. The event was controversial at best and divisive at worst, with one member of the Academy, Graça Aranha, ostracized for attending. He had opened the week with a conference titled "The aesthetic emotion in modern art". Due to the radicalism (for the times) of some of their poems and music, the artists were vigorously booed and pelted by the audience, and the press and art critics in general were strong in their condemnation (such as in a famous episode by editor, writer and art critic

Monteiro Lobato José Bento Renato Monteiro Lobato (18 April 1882 – 4 July 1948) was one of Brazil's most influential writers, mostly for his children's books set in the fictional Sítio do Picapau Amarelo (Yellow Woodpecker Farm) but he had been previously ...

). The group that took part in the Week, contrary to their initial intentions, did not remain a unified movement. A number of separate groups split off, and the original core members had separated by 1929. Two divisions predominated: the Anthropophagics (cannibalists), led by

Oswald de Andrade José Oswald de Souza Andrade (January 11, 1890 – October 22, 1954) was a Brazilian poet, novelist and cultural critic. He was born, spent most of his life and died in São Paulo. Andrade was one of the founders of Brazilian modernism and a ...

, wanted to make use of the influence of European and American artists but freely create their own art out of the regurgitations of what they had taken from abroad (thus the term anthropophagy: they would "eat" all influences, digest it, and throw out new things). The Nationalists wanted no foreign influences, and sought a "purely Brazilian" form of art. This group was led by writer

Plínio Salgado Plínio Salgado (; January 22, 1895 – December 8, 1975) was a Brazilian politician, writer, journalist, and theologian. He founded and led Brazilian Integralist Action, a political party inspired by the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini. Init ...

, who later became a fascist political leader (

Brazilian Integralism Brazilian Integralism ( pt, integralismo) was a political movement in Brazil, created in October 1932. Founded and led by Plínio Salgado, a literary figure who was somewhat famous for his participation in the 1922 Modern Art Week. The movement ...

) and was arrested by dictator

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...

after a failed coup. Before the events leading up to 1922, São Paulo was a prosperous but relatively culturally unimportant city. However, the Week established São Paulo as the seat of the new modernist movement, against the far more culturally conservative

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Participants

Painters

* Anita Malfatti * Emiliano Di Cavalcanti *

Zina Aita Zina Aita (1900–1967) was a Brazilian artist that practised early modernism within Brazilian culture. She worked hard with many artists in this time trying to captivate and enhance Brazil's unique culture to the public, something that was unique ...

Vicente do Rego Monteiro Vicente do Rego Monteiro (December 19, 1899 — June 5, 1970), born in Recife, was a Brazilian painter, sculptor, and poet, born to a rich family. He was part of the Semana de Arte Moderna exhibition and helped form the later Brazilian Moderni ...

* Ferrignac (Ignácio da Costa Ferreira) *

Yan de Almeida Prado Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed inde ...

John Graz John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

Alberto Martins Ribeiro Alberto is the Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic '' Albert''. It is used in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. The diminutive forms are ''Albertito'' in Spain or ''Albertico'' in some parts of Latin America, Albe ...

Oswaldo Goeldi Oswaldo Goeldi (31 October 1895 – 16 February 1961) was a Brazilian artist and renowned engraver. He was the son of Swiss naturalist Émil Goeldi. Goeldi was born in Rio de Janeiro, but lived in Belém, in the state Pará, until he was 6 ...

Architects

Georg Przyrembel Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: People * George (given name) * ...

Writers

Menotti del Picchia Paulo Menotti Del Picchia (São Paulo, March 20, 1892 – São Paulo, August 23, 1988) was a Brazilian poet, journalist, and painter. He is associated with the Generation of 1922, the first generation of Brazilian modernism artists. Del Picc ...

Sérgio Milliet Sérgio Milliet da Costa e Silva, generally known as Sérgio Milliet (São Paulo November 20, 1898 – São Paulo November 9, 1966) was a Brazilian writer, painter, poet, essayist, literary and art critic, and sociologist. See also * List of ...

* Ronald de Carvalho * Agenor Fernandes Barbosa * Álvaro Moreira * Renato de Almeida *

Ribeiro Couto Ribeiro is a surname common in Galicia, Portugal and Brazil. It is also a wine-making region of Southeast central Galicia. In Portuguese, it literally means "small creek" or "by the river". In Galicia the surname was often Castilianized as ''Rivei ...

Guilherme de Almeida Guilherme de Andrade e Almeida (born in Campinas, July 24, 1890 and died in Sao Paulo, July 11, 1969) was a lawyer, journalist, film critic, poet, essayist and Brazilian translator. He helped popularize the Japanese poem style, ''haiku'', in Br ...

* Graça Aranha

Composers

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...

* Guiomar Novais * Ernani Braga * Frutuoso Viana

References

External links

Brazil Body and Soul
exhibit at the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenh ...

Semana de Arte Moderna
{{São Paulo Modern art Brazilian art 1922 in Brazil Art festivals in Brazil Arts festivals in Brazil Culture in São Paulo Festivals in São Paulo First Brazilian Republic