History Art / Abaporu

* AuthorAvatar: Tarsilinha, Tarsila's great-grandniece, suggested that the ''Abaporu'' is actually a self-portrait done from an aberrant angle's perspective. There was a mirror in Tarsila and her husband's house that, when seen from Tarsila's studio or room, depicts the viewer with oversized feet and an undersized head. According to Tarsilinha, this served as the painting's inspiration. Additional evidence is that Tarsila's second foot toe was longer than her big toe, just like the Abaporu. This is filed in the family reports Tarsilinha collected.

There have been several different interpretations of the painting, such as the unrecognizable facial features of the figure representing the dehumanization of the human being and the small head criticizing the depreciation of intelectualism in Brazil, or the oversized feet and small head representing the disparities of labor in society, with the majority having to rely on manual work, thus the large feet and arms --and a small elite having access to intellectual works, thus the undersized head. However, an alternate interpretation by Tarsila's great-niece suggests instead that the painting was actually conceived as a stylized self-portrait Tarsila made to her husband, seeing herself in an inclined mirror from her studio.

The name Abaporu comes from Tupi, meaning "men-eating man". It was chosen by Tarsila after an interpretation made by Oswald and a friend of his that sparked the Anthropophagic movement --a manifest in Brazil that intended to symbolically digest foreign, European art styles and absorb them. An then turn them into something truly culturally Brazilian as a way to face off against imperialism and the European influence in the country's art History. Thanks to its vibrant colors, stylized proportions, and importance for national art History, the work is frequently homaged, paraphrased, and parodied in lots of works from BrazilianMedia, being one of the most easily recognizable Brazilian paintings among the country's audiences alongside "O Grito do Ipiranga" by Pedro Américo and a symbol of South American painting History.

* {{Gonk}}: The Abaporu deliberately has a distorted anatomy, with a giant foot and hand culminating in an undersized head.

''Abaporu'' is a 1928 oil {{painting|s}} on canvas made by Brazilian modernist painter Creator/TarsilaDoAmaral as a birthday present to her husband at the time, writer Oswald de Andrade. Tarsila's most well-known workpiece, the painting was the main work and inspiration of the Anthropophagic movement and it is one of the most famous, valuable, and historically relevant paintings in Brazil's History.

Tarsila described the central being as ''"a monstruous and solitary figure, sitting on a green plain, the hand supporting the featherweight minuscule head."'' Alongside the lone being, there is the simple green mound it sits on, a cactus with a vibrant yellow flower, and a pale blue sky.\\
There have been several different interpretations of the painting, such as the unrecognizable facial features of the figure representing the dehumanization of the human being and the small head criticizing the depreciation of intelectualism in Brazil, or the oversized feet and small head representing the disparities of labor in society, with the majority having to rely on manual work -- thus the large feet and arms -- and a small elite having access to intellectual works -- thus the undersized head. However, an alternate interpretation by Tarsila's great-niece suggests instead that the painting was actually conceived as a sylized self-portrait Tarsila made to her husband, seeing herself in an inclined mirror from her studio.

The name Abaporu comes from Tupi, meaning "men-eating man". It was chosen by Tarsila after an interpretation made by Oswald and a friend of his that sparked the Anthropophagic movement -- a manifest in Brazil that intended to symbolically digest foreign, European art styles and absorb it, turning it into something truly culturally Brazilian as a way to face off imperialism and the European influence in the country's art History. Thanks to its vibrant colors, importance for national art History and stylized proportions, the work is frequently homaged, paraphrased and parodied in lots of works from BrazilianMedia, being one of the most easily recognizable Brazilian paintings among the country's audiences alongside "O Grito do Ipiranga" by Pedro Américo and a symbol of South American painting History.

* ThinkerPose: Some scholars [[ArtImitatesArt compare the Abaporu's contemplative pose with Rodin's ''The Thinker'']] due to their similar corporal position.

''Abaporu'' is a 1928 oil painting on canvas made by Brazilian modernist painter Creator/TarsilaDoAmaral as a birthday present to her husband at the time, writer Oswald de Andrade. Tarsila's most well-known workpiece, the painting was the main work and inspiration of the Anthropophagic movement and it is one of the most famous, valuable, and historically relevant paintings in Brazil's History.

* AmbiguousGender: The painting's subject is intentionally lacking many facial features and has a very androgynous body, making its sex very hard to determine

* VagueAge: Abaporu's wacky proportions and poorly-detailed face make it hard to pin down how old it is. It can only be said that it's obviously not a baby nor old enough for its hair to gray.

* {{Surrealism}}: Tarsila's paintings were inspired by many of the European Vanguards, with the Abaporu having been greatly influenced by Cubism and Spanish surrealism with its non-standard aesthetics.

!!The Abaporu provides examples of:
* AmbiguousGender: The being is intentionally absent from many facial features and has a very androgynous body, making its sex very hard to define.

''Abaporu'' is a 1928 oil painting on canvas made by Brazilian modernist painter Creator/TarsilaDoAmaral as a birthday present to her husband at the time, writer Oswald de Andrade. Tarsila's most well-known work piece, the painting was the main work and inspiration of the Anthropophagic movement and it is one of the most famous, valuable and historically relevant paintings in Brazil's History.

* ForeignLanguageTitle: Far from foreign, since the linguistic trunk was and still is spoken by many indigenous cultures in Brazil, but the title of the painting is in Tupi, while Brazil's official and main language is Portuguese. Tarsila chose the name by looking at a Tupi dictionary after an interpretation made by Oswald, relating to the anthropophagic movement and how Brazilian artists should absorb foreign styles and adapt them to the country's reality -- hence the indigenous name.
* {{Gonk}}: The Abaporu deliberately has a distorted anatomy, with giant feet and hand culminating in an undersized head.
* NeverTrustATitle: Despite its name meaning [[ImAHumanitarian "man who eats people"]], there isn't anything in the painting itself indicating the Abaporu is a man-eater. Instead, the title comes from the reading Tarsila's husband had of the then-unnamed painting -- the Anthropophagy movement which postulates that Brazilian artists should "swallow" the dominant European styles and turn them into art that is culturally and aesthetically Brazilian instead of just imitating them. This means shedding off the excessive formal academicism, attention to realistic proportions, and idealization of the past.

* {{Surrealism}}: Tarsila's paintings were inspired by many of the European Vanguards, with the Abaporu is specific having big influence of cubism and spanish surrealism with its non-standard aesthetics.

* AuthorAvatar: One of the interpretations. In 2014, Tarsila's great-niece Tarsilinha suggested that the Abaporu was actually a self-portrait since it was her birthday present to her husband. She made the interpretation based on a mirror present in the house Tarsila and Oswald lived in that could be seen from Tarsila's room and studio. Due to its inclined position, the mirror depicts the viewer with oversized feet and an undersized head, which could've inspired her to make the painting. Additional evidence is the foot since the family reports Tarsilinha collected say Tarsila do Amaral's second toe was longer than her big toe, just like the central being of the work.

* NonIndicativeName: Despite its name meaning [[ImAHumanitarian "man who eats people"]], there isn't anything in the painting itself indicating the Abaporu is a man-eater. The title was an interpretation Oswald had which formed a movement, the Anthropophagy, in which Brazilian artists defended that they should "swallow" the then dominant European styles and turn it into culturally and aesthetically Brazilian art, instead of just trying to replicate it like what they accused Romantism of having been doing. It is, artists could be directly inspired by European art styles (as Tarsila herself was), but should create and adapt them to Brazil's own national aesthetics and reality, leaving aside the excessive formal academicism, attention to realism, and idealization of the past.

* AmbiguousGender / VagueAge: The being is intentionally absent from many facial features, making its sex and age hard to define.
* AuthorAvatar: One of the interpretations. In 2014, Tarsila's great-niece Tarsilinha suggested that the Abaporu was actually a self-portrait, since it was her birthday present to her husband. She made the interpretation based on a mirror present in the house Tarsila and Oswald lived in that could be seen from Tarsila's room and studio. Due to its inclined position, the mirror depicts the viewer with oversized feet and an undersized head, which could've inspired her to make the painting. Additional evidence is the foot, since family reports Tarsilinha collected say Tarsila do Amaral's second toe was longer than her big toe, just like the central being of the work.
* ForeignLanguageTitle: Far from foreign, since the linguistic trunk was and still is spoken by many indigenous cultures in Brazil, but the title of the painting is in Tupi, while Brazil's official and main language is Portuguese. Tarsila chose the name by looking at a Tupi dictionary after an interpretation made by Oswald, relating to the anthropofagic movement and how Brazilian artists should absorb foreign styles and adapt them to the country's reality -- hence the indigenous name.

* NonIndicativeName: Despite its name meaning [[ImAHumanitarian "man who eats people"]], there isn't anything in the painting itself indicating the Abaporu is a man-eater. The title was an interpretation Oswald had which formed a movement, the Anthropophagy, in which Brazilian artists defended that they should "swallow" the then dominant European styles and turn it into culturally and aesthetically Brazilian art, instead of just trying to replicate it like what they accused Romantism of having been doing. It is, artists could be directly inspired by European art styles (as Tarsila herself was), but should create and adapt them to Brazil's own national aesthetics and reality, leaving aside the excessive formal academicism, attention to realism and idealization of the past.

The name Abaporu comes from Tupi, meaning "men-eating man". It was chosen by Tarsila after an interpretation made by Oswald and a friend of his that sparked the Anthropophagic movement -- a manifest in Brazil that intended to symbolically digest foreign, European art styles and absorb it, turning it into something truly culturally Brazilian as a way to face off imperialism and the European influence in the country's art History. Thanks to its vibrant colors, importance for national art History and stylized proportions, the work is frequently homaged, paraphrased and parodied in lots of works from BrazilianMedia, being one of the most easily recognizable Brazilian paintings among the country's audiences and a symbol of South American painting History.

To see the page in Brazilian Portuguese, please click [[BrArte/{{Abaporu}} here]].

The ''Abaporu'' is a 1928 oil painting on canvas made by Brazilian modernist painter Creator/TarsilaDoAmaral as a birthday present to her husband at the time, writer Oswald de Andrade. Tarsila's most well-known work piece, the painting was the main work and inspiration of the Anthropophagic movement and it is one of the most famous, valuable and historically relevant paintings in Brazil's History.

To see the page in Brazilian Portuguese, click [[Br/{{Abaporu}} here]].

There have been several different interpretations of the painting, such as the unrecognizable facial features of the figure representing the dehumanization of the human being or the oversized feet and small head representing the disparities of labor in society, with the majority having to rely on manual work -- thus the large feet and arms -- and a small elite having access to intellectual works -- thus the undersized head. However, an alternate interpretation by Tarsila's great-niece suggests instead that the painting was actually conceived as a self-portrait Tarsila made to her husband, seeing herself in an inclined mirror from her studio.