Over 80 years since the Royal Academy’s first and only exhibition on Brazilian modernismo, the vibrant movement has returned in full force to Mayfair in a powerful display of colour, shape, and history. The spring showcase pulls artworks together from a vast number of public and private collections, including many never-before-seen pieces, to spotlight twelve influential artists and tell the story of coexistence and contradiction that defined 20th-century Brazil.

From Impressionism to Parisian Art Deco, the influences and styles present are countless, and whilst vivid colours are a striking feature of many of the artworks, one thing unites even the neutral pieces in the collection: a uniquely Brazilian dynamism. I, like many others, came for Djanira’s captivating reds and greens, almost neon in their vibrancy, and for Tarsila do Amaral’s iconic ‘blobs’ – a series of smooth, rounded shapes that celebrate local simplicity. What struck me, however, was how the same artists gave up this palatable tropicalism for darker, spikier subjects as their political reality became crushing, and how the exhibition tracked this with an enthralling, sombre elegance.

“As Djanira’s words tattoo the wall: ‘I might be naïve, but my painting is not’”

One visitor remarked on how “fresh” this perspective is in its difference from the European norm which dominates London’s fine art scene: whether in its subjects and styles, its subtle awareness of WWII, or its point-blank refusal to continue blindly reproducing European models, Brasil! Brasil! champions a bold anti-colonialism. The focus on indigenous, female, and lesser-known modernists also breaks up the familiar canon of wealthy, privately-educated artists whose anti-Europeanness was often purely intellectual, and rejects the contemporary hierarchy they enjoyed. As Djanira’s words tattoo the wall: “I might be naïve, but my painting is not.”

In fact, the highly biographical approach of assigning each artist their own room also refuses any attempt to reduce Brazilian modernism to an exotic mould of bright colours and bold shapes, instead forcing every spectator to consider the diversity between and within these artists’ works. This allows the exhibition to mirror the complex range of responses to Brazil’s political landscape which modernismo represented, infusing more outlying pieces with layers of meaning even to the most amateur eye. Concretism, for example, emerges near the end of the showcase not as its usual over-simplified series of squares, but as an inspired reaction to a nation of lush greenery suddenly flattened by skyscrapers.

“I found the juxtaposition between Burlington House itself and the modernist collection within to be a satisfying, if unintentional, emphasis of the movement’s political ideals”

As well as the active design of the space, which honours each piece without becoming overwhelming, I found the juxtaposition between Burlington House itself and the modernist collection within to be a satisfying, if unintentional, emphasis of the movement’s political ideals. Clashing aesthetically and culturally, the loud, Brazilian works denounce not just their own historical setting, but also the rigid, Eurocentric institutions of art and politics which are embodied by the high ceilings, marble pillars and chandeliers of the Royal Academy.

More than anything, this exhibition impressed me with its perfect balance. The collection’s variety and abundance was astounding, and clearly curated with great care from a wide range of sources, whilst the laser focus on each artist and the space that each piece was allowed kept the experience tight and intentional. The Royal Academy’s reimagination of its own pioneering wartime showcase offers each visitor a genuine and complete immersion into Brazilian modernism, without ever becoming lost among the leaves.

‘Brasil! Brasil! The Birth of Modernism’ is being exhibited at Burlington House until 21 April.

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