TwomodernistexhibitionsatthePalaceHotel

With an eclectic profile in its famous exhibitions, the Palace Hotel became the city's leading gallery in the 1920s, hosting works by artists who were fundamental to Modernism in São Paulo and Brazil. Ronald de Carvalho, one of the leading Rio names in the movement, was one of those responsible for the events that brought together Rio and São Paulo artists in the halls of the famous hotel. Although it represented a different moment in the life and work of the historical figures linked to the 1922 Modern Art Week, the exhibitions of 1928 and 1929 showcased the works of artists reaching aesthetic maturity in their dialogue with the European avant-gardes and with the invention of a definitively Brazilian style of painting.

Image description: This is a painting depicting a human face partially hidden by green leaves. From left to right, the background features a series of geometric shapes in shades of green, ranging from dark blue-green to light green. At the center is a human figure with short hair and a serene facial expression. The face is surrounded by large green leaves that extend toward the horizon, which is slightly bluish.

Lasar Segall and Tarsila do Amaral were two of those names whose exhibitions stirred up the days of Rio. The former showed his works in the hotel's salon in June 1928. The Lithuanian painter, who had settled in São Paulo, had his works visited in a well-attended exhibition that received notable coverage in the local press. At that time, Segall was already an important name in European Expressionism and managed to articulate that school in a singular way with the settings and characters he found in Brazil. With forty canvases (thirty-two oils and eight watercolors), the exhibition gained prominence in the local press and confirmed Segall as a definitive painter of his generation.

Tarsila do Amaral, for her part, had at the Palace Hotel perhaps the most memorable exhibition of her career in Brazil. In a crowded and controversial solo show in July 1929 (the artist's first in Brazil), Tarsila displayed in the country for the first time a series of paintings she made during her trips back and forth to Paris alongside Oswald de Andrade. After the painter had exhibited works in two solo exhibitions in the "City of Light," Rio residents were finally able to see paintings such as Urutu, Sono, Touro and Antropofagia. With a large turnout of intellectuals from all fields, the exhibition received positive reviews as well as controversy common to the period.

Image description: The image is a black and white illustration. At the center is a woman's face with short, simply styled hair. The ears are adorned with large dangling earrings. Above the face is the name "Tarsila" written in large black letters. Below the face is the date "rio-1929" also written in black letters.

Somehow, the Palace Hotel made Rio a city that was more modernist in visual arts than the Semana de Arte Moderna exhibition itself in 1922.