Tarsila in Quotation Marks

As you navigate the exhibition, listen to the interview Tarsila do Amaral gave at her residence in 1971. The interview is part of MIS’s online collection and is available at the following links:
Part 1
Part 2

“I have loads of memories… I was extremely free, I’d play, frolic along the walls and in the trees, I loved to play, I had five brothers.”


From the transcription of the interview with Tarsila do Amaral, recorded on May 13, 1971. MIS Collection.

“In 1920, Tarsila embarked for Europe […] settling in Paris […]According to João Souza Lima, the Tarsila that arrived in Paris had girlish airs, but a woman’s boldness.”(Mary Del Priore. From the book Tarsila – Uma vida doce-amarga, 2022)

“I’d always been bashful, terribly shy, and I still am today… I even quit studying piano under Souza Lima because of it. After three years of lessons, I stopped, because I knew I’d have to go on stage… I started painting out of timidity.”

“Paul Poiret used to make my dresses.” (French designer, 1879–1944).


“Paul Poiret used to make my dresses.” (French designer, 1879–1944).


“I made a painting especially, one of my best, called A caipirinha (Country Girl). Oswald took the title and wrote a poem for me: Caipirinha vestida de Poiret.”

“I received a letter from Anita Malfatti telling me all about the Modern Art Week.”


“Soon after that [June, 1922], Anita, who was already my good friend, introduced me to Oswaldo de Andrade, Menotti del Picchia, and Mário de Andrade.”

“I received visits from lots of people… my studio was huge, so there was room for plenty of people.”

“Dona Olívia [Guedes Penteado] often met with us too. And Di Cavalcanti would always be there, as was I.”

“I remember everything about our trip to Minas. Mário de Andrade also came.”

“The tour of the Orient was driven by a curiosity to see new things, see the East, which was so very different to our reality here.”

“The tour of the Orient was driven by a curiosity to see new things, see the East, which was so very different to our reality here.”

“There’s the thing… I was always very correct in this regard. People were forever saying that I took part in the Modern Art Week, which was almost like a laurel, wasn’t it? But no, I heard all about it in Paris, in a letter from Anita Malfatti.”

“I still work. These are all new; these paintings are recent … I’m still producing.”


“They’re already copying me.”

(From the transcription of the interview with Tarsila do Amaral, recorded on May 13, 1971. MIS Collection)

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