RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A painting by Tarsila do Amaral will be for sale at the Tefaf New York marketplace for US$7 million, or around R$40 million. It is the “Idílio” painting, dated 1929, exhibited by the São Paulo Bergamin e Gomide gallery.
This is perhaps the highest amount asked for a painting by the artist at a market – her paintings available for sale are rare and, when they are seen at events of this kind, they are typically at a later and much less valued stage.
Thiago Gomide, a partner at Bergamin e Gomide, says the painting belongs to a Brazilian collector who, fearing potential damage due to displacement, did not want it to leave the country to be later sold. As Tefaf will be held online, the opportunity was ideal, continues the gallery owner.
In addition to being online, this will also be a slightly different edition of the event. The participants, who need to submit what they intend to exhibit to the scrutiny of a group of experts, may only exhibit one work each in their virtual stands.
“Being able to exhibit a piece by a Latin woman at a market of such calibre places Brazil in a remarkable position. It would be a great work for a museum,” says Gomide.
The gallery owner says he believes that, in addition to the famous Malba (Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires) that owns “Abaporu”, the painter’s most famous work, today only three museums abroad feature Tarsila’s works in their collections – the Russian Hermitage Museum, the French Grenoble Museum, and MoMA, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, which bought “The Moon” in a transaction estimated at R$75 million last year.
“Idílio” (“Idyll”) shows a couple hugging, with their backs turned, contemplating the horizon amid a landscape of hills and plants.
The painting shows round shapes and vibrant colors that recall one of Tarsila’s earlier productions, started when, back after a season in Paris, she rejects what she learned in Europe in the name of a deeper contact with the Brazilian way of life.
Tefaf New York auction starts Sunday, November 1st and runs until November 4th.
Source: Folhapress