And the Abaporu, painted by tarsila do amaral in 1928. “For all its historical importance, it is worth at least R$ 30 million”, estimates gallerist and specialist in modernist works Ricardo Camargo. The 85 x 73 cm canvas shows a person with a small head and large arms and legs – a reference to manual labor. Offered as a birthday present to the writer Oswald de Andrade, Tarsila’s husband at the time, the painting became an icon of the modernist movement. Starting with the name, which means something like “man who eats people” in Tupi. The title refers to the concept of Brazilian anthropophagy, the idea, worked by artists of the time, of feeding on national culture and interpreting the country according to its values. Ironically, the Abaporu is on display outside the country, at the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires (Malba), created by the Argentine collector Eduardo Constantini.
NATIONAL TREASURE
Brazilian works sold for a fortune
Poetic Shelter 3 (1964)by Lygia Clark – Sold for BRL 4 million (2011)
Wall with Incisions à la Fontana II (2001)by Adriana Varejão – Sold for BRL 2.9 million (2011)
sun over landscape (1966)by Antonio Bandeira– sold by BRL 3.5 million (2010)
The magic (2001)by Beatriz Milhazes – Sold for BRL 1.7 million (2008)
image: reproduction. Sources: Ricardo Camargo, gallery owner; João Carlos Lopes dos Santos, art market consultant.