Aracy Amaral, Leading Brazilian Art Historian and Curator, Dies at 96
Aracy Amaral, an influential figure in the history of Brazilian art, passed away at the age of 96. With a career spanning over sixty years, she served as a historian, critic, professor, and curator, emphasizing modernism outside the Rio-São Paulo corridor. Amaral led the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo from 1975 to 1979 and the MAC-USP from 1982 to 1986. Her curatorial journey began in the 1960s with notable exhibitions, including Tarsila: 50 anos de pintura (1969) and a retrospective of Alfredo Volpi (1972). In 1973, she curated Expo-Projeção-73. Her doctoral work on Tarsila do Amaral resulted in the publication of Tarsila: sua obra e seu tempo (1975). In 2006, she was awarded the Prêmio Fundação Bunge and organized the inaugural Bienal Latino-Americana in 1978. Her final research focused on Brazilian modernisms from 1900 to 1937.
Key facts
- Aracy Amaral died at 96.
- She directed the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo from 1975 to 1979.
- She directed MAC-USP from 1982 to 1986.
- She curated Tarsila: 50 anos de pintura at MAC-USP in 1969.
- She organized Expo-Projeção-73 in 1973, featuring Hélio Oiticica and Antônio Dias.
- Her book Tarsila: sua obra e seu tempo was first published in 1975.
- She coordinated the catalogue raisonné of Tarsila do Amaral in 2008.
- She received the Prêmio Fundação Bunge in 2006.
- She curated the first Bienal Latino-Americana in São Paulo in 1978.
- She co-curated Modernity: Brazilian Art of the 20th Century at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris from 1987 to 1988.
- In 2017, Itaú Cultural dedicated Ocupação Aracy Amaral to her.
- Her final research, with Regina Teixeira de Barros, covered Brazilian modernisms from 1900 to 1937.
Entities
Artists
- Aracy Amaral
- Tarsila do Amaral
- Alfredo Volpi
- Hélio Oiticica
- Antônio Dias
- Cícero Dias
- Di Cavalcanti
- Candido Portinari
- Regina Teixeira de Barros
- André Seiti
- Mateus Nunes
- Lygia Pape
- Walter Zanini
- Pietro Maria Bardi
- Wolfgang Pfeiffer
- Paulo Herkenhoff
Institutions
- Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo
- Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo
- MAC-USP
- MAM do Rio de Janeiro
- Universidade de São Paulo
- USP
- Fundação Bunge
- Bienal Latino-Americana
- Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
- Itaú Cultural
- Dasartes
- Globo
- Pesquisa FAPESP
- Pinacoteca
- Museum of Contemporary Art, MAC USP
- MAM/RJ
- Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
- MAM/SP
- Trienal de Chile
- Bienal do Mercosul
- ArtReview
- MAM SP
- PUC-SP
- Bienal de São Paulo
- GRIFE
- Jovem Pan
- Associação Brasileira de Críticos de Arte (ABCA)
- John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
- Bienal Latino-Americana de São Paulo
- Trienal do Chile
- MASP
- Fundação Bienal de São Paulo
- Arquivo Histórico Wanda Svevo
Locations
- São Paulo
- Brazil
- Rio de Janeiro
- Paris
- France
- Pernambuco
- Rio Grande do Norte
- Pará
- Amazonas
- Recife
- Santiago
- Chile
- Porto Alegre
- Latin America