Colonizers and Portraitists
Johann Moritz Rugendas, Germany (1802-1858),
Jean-Baptiste Debret, France (1768-1848),
Albert Eckhout, Holland (circa 1607-1666),
Theodor de Bry, Belgium (1528-1598)
Jan van Kessel, Belgium (1626–1679),
Friar André Thévet, France (1516–1590),
José Maria de Medeiros, Brazil (1849-1925),
Tarsila do Amaral (Capivari, Brazil (1886-1973)
Claudia Andujar, Brazil
Almires Martins, Brazil
Denilson Baniwa, Brazil
Brazilian modernism, however, claimed that rather than being influenced by colonizing thinking, we should "eat" this influence as part of the national creative process, but not use that as a determinant of the image that one wants to produce: an idea that concerns Brazilians, made by Brazilians.
Only in this way is it possible to look unfiltered at the national territory and realize that the genocide initiated by the colonization process is not over and that these colonial images are pure fiction.
For a long time, it was believed that the French and Dutch missions in Brazil had a purely informative character, that the painters came to Brazil only to portray, in an anthropological and purely observational way, the landscapes and the social interactions that were part of that context.
From the moment we realize that many of the stories and observations written by travelers such as Hans Staden are at least twisted to justify the violence against native populations, the clearing, and exploitation of territories colonized by them, at first as messengers of "civility.
No scientific production is without purpose, especially when the object portrayed is a subject who belongs to a community other than the European one. Brazil, until recently, was being seen through a foreign lens.
720°
Albert Eckhout, Netherlands (circa 1607- 1666)
Retrato de uma mulher Tapuia segurando partes de um corpo humano
1641
264 × 159 cm
National Museum of Denmark
Overview of the exhibition
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