Interview with Tarsila do Amaral (left), recorded at her apartment on Rua Albuquerque Lins (1971-05) by Plácido de Campos JúniorMuseu da Imagem e do Som
Broadening our remit, the Museu da Imagem e do Som de São Paulo (MIS) is making some of its precious archive available online. One of the hallmarks of this collection is the interview Tarsila do Amaral gave to Aracy Amaral, Paulo Mendes de Almeida, Maria Eugênia Franco, Oswald de Andrade Filho, and Francisco Luiz de Almeida Salles at her home on May 13, 1971.
This exhibition, Tarsila entre aspas (Tarsila in Quotation Marks), is built around this interview, garnished with images from the MIS Archive in order to provide the public with a valuable trove of material related to one of the leading artists of the Brazilian modernist movement, whose oeuvre continues to echo today.
The interviewers, all equally important figures on the Brazilian art and culture scene, coaxed memories and stories out of Tarsila do Amaral that not only turn up key facts in her life and career, but also bring out certain traits in her character, such as her generosity and modesty, refined sense of humor, and the simplicity of her country roots.
Fond memories of her childhood, her shyness, departure for Paris, missing the Modern Art Week in 1922, her travels, and introduction to the São Paulo vanguard are just some of the themes covered in the interview that structures this virtual exhibition, which also features fragments of poems about the artist by Carlos Drummond de Andrade and Oswald de Andrade, and passages from a recent book by the historian Mary Del Priore, which offers a deeper perspective on Tarsila the woman.
Rosana Caramaschi
historian and curator of the exhibition
Ranch workers lodgings at Santa Tereza Ranch, owned by Tarsila do Amaral’s family (1920) by Authorship unknown and Reproduced by Fernando ScavoneMuseu da Imagem e do Som
“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.
Piolin (Abelardo Pinto) at Santa Tereza Ranch, owned by Tarsila do Amaral (1920/1929) by Authorship unknown and Reproduced by Fernando ScavoneMuseu da Imagem e do Som
Tarsila do Amaral in Paris (1927) by Authorship unknown and Reproduced by Fernando ScavoneMuseu da Imagem e do Som
“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.”
Oswald de Andrade and Tarsila do Amaral in Paris (1927) by Authorship unknown and Reproduced by Fernando ScavoneMuseu da Imagem e do Som
Tarsila do Amaral (1920/1929) by Authorship unknown and Reproduced by Fernando ScavoneMuseu da Imagem e do Som
“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.”
Oswald de Andrade and Tarsila do Amaral on deck (1920/1929) by Authorship unknown and Reproduced by Fernando ScavoneMuseu da Imagem e do Som
“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.”
Patrícia Galvão, Anita Malfatti, Benjamin Peret, Tarsila do Amaral, Oswald de Andrade, Elsie Houston, Alvaro Moreyra, Eugênia Álvaro Moreyra, and an unidentified individual (1920/1929) by Authorship unknown and Authorship of the reproduction unknownMuseu da Imagem e do Som
“I received visits from lots of people… my studio was huge, so there was room for plenty of people.”
Oswald de Andrade and Tarsila do Amaral photographed alongside dona Olívia Guedes Penteado (center), Betita Penteado (with a copy of Pau Brasil), Goffredo da Silva Telles, and Carolina Penteado da Silva Telles (1925) by Authorship unknown and Reproduced by Fernando ScavoneMuseu da Imagem e do Som
“Dona Olívia [Guedes Penteado] often met with us too. And Di Cavalcanti would always be there, as was I.”
Tarsila do Amaral at Santo Antônio Ranch, owned by dona Olívia Guedes Penteado (1924) by Authorship unknown and Reproduced by Fernando ScavoneMuseu da Imagem e do Som
Trip to Minas Gerais (1923) by Authorship unknown and Reproduced by Fernando ScavoneMuseu da Imagem e do Som
“I remember everything about our trip to Minas. Mário de Andrade also came.”
Right to left: Tarsila do Amaral, Oswald de Andrade, Dulce, Dr. Altino Arantes, Biela Arantes, Cláudio de Souza, and Dona Luisinha (1926) by Authorship unknown and Reproduced by Fernando ScavoneMuseu da Imagem e do Som
“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.”
Trip to the Middle East: Oswald de Andrade, Tarsila, and Dulce aboard ship (seated in the second row on the right) (1926) by Authorship unknown and Reproduced by Fernando ScavoneMuseu da Imagem e do Som
Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Modern Art Week of 1922: Tarsila do Amaral at the MASP exhibition (1972) by Gabriel BondukiMuseu da Imagem e do Som
“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)
Tarsila do Amaral was born on September 1, 1886, in the town of Capivari, São Paulo State, and died on January 17, 1973, in the city of São Paulo.
SÃO PAULO STATE GOVERNMENT
Governor
Tarcísio de Freitas
Head of the São Paulo State Secretary of Culture and Creative Economy
Marilia Marton
State Executive Secretary of Culture and Creative Economy
Frederico Mascarenhas
Head of the Cabinet
Maithê Rocha da Costa Monteiro
Coordinator of the Museum Heritage Unit
Paula Paiva Ferreira
ASSOCIAÇÃO CULTURAL CICCILLO MATARAZZO
ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD
Chairman
Roberto Giannetti da Fonseca
Vice Chairman
Sergio Kobayashi
Board Members
Fernanda Romano
Luis Henrique Sartoratti
Mauro Garcia
Rita Okamura
FINANCIAL BOARD
Board Members
Gil Marcos Clarindo dos Santos
Olinda Amazonas Martins
Rita Marques
Sonia Maria da Silva
ADVISORY BOARD
Board Members
Dalva Abrantes de Mendonça
Marcelo Hallake
Max Perlingeiro
MUSEU DA IMAGEM E DO SOM
General Director
Marcos Mendonça
Management and Finance Director
Gil Costa
Cultural Director
Cláudia Vendramini Reis
Administrative Manager
Ana Paula Braga
Financial Manager
Luis Henrique Sartoratti
Cultural Manager
Renan Daniel
Institutional Assistant
Débora Botelho Brandão
TARSILA IN QUOTATION MARKS
Curator
Rosana Caramaschi
Producer
Isabela Olmos
Researcher
Adriana Veríssimo
Scanning
Cássia Aranha
Guilherme Savioli
Mounting of the Virtual Exhibition
Patricia Lira
Text Revision
Cristiane B. Futagawa [Sushi]
Regina Stocklen
Acknowledgments
Aracy Amaral
Carmelita de Moraes
Centro de Documentação Cultural "Alexandre Eulalio" - Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / UNICAMP
Fernando Scavone
Gabriel Bonduki
Karina Israel
Rudá de Andrade Filho
Tarsila do Amaral
Tarsila do Amaral Empreendimentos
