Dossier: Tarsila do Amaral, Many Interesting Matters: 100 Years Since Her First Exhibition (1926–2026)
The memoirs of Tarsila do Amaral (1886–1973) were never written by the artist as she had intended, yet they circulate in diverse forms through her art and life history. In 2026, one hundred years will have passed since her first solo exhibition, held at the Galerie Percier in Paris. Although she became internationally recognized from this milestone onward, her artistic production predates 1926, which on this occasion invites reflection on the current state of research on the artist. Accordingly, this dossier seeks to bring together a collection of academic texts that take Tarsila do Amaral as their central focus, originating from Brazilian or international research, in accordance with the editorial guidelines of Art&Sensorium. The aim is to reflect on the importance of the artist within the history of Brazilian art and contemporary art criticism, considering the legacy of previous scholarship—most notably that of Aracy A. Amaral (1975) — while simultaneously opening new possibilities for research grounded in this tradition. The dossier invites authors to submit original and unpublished works from fields such as Aesthetics, History, Art History and Art Criticism, Anthropology of Art, Sociology of Art, and Visual Studies, focusing on the visual and written production of Tarsila do Amaral. Articles are welcome that present in-depth case studies of specific works or that explore materials still little investigated in this context, such as personal and public documents—including photographs, films, newspapers, and magazines, as well as processes of reception and exhibition of her work, whether prior to or following the period outlined. Additionally, the present call aims to contribute to the construction of a contemporary framework of research on the artist, highlighting the breadth of her oeuvre, its social implications, and the potential of new research questions or theoretical–methodological approaches, as well as the impact of her poetics on the work of other artists.
Call Schedule
Article submission period: February 9, 2026 – April 8, 2026
Publication of the dossier: Second semester of 2026
Organization:
Alexandre Araujo Bispo 1
Michele Bete Petry 2
1 Alexandre Araujo Bispo holds a Bachelor’s degree (2009) and a Teaching Degree (2015) in Social Sciences from the University of São Paulo (USP). He obtained his Master’s degree (2012) and PhD (2019) in Social Anthropology from USP. He is currently undertaking a postdoctoral fellowship at the School of Fine Arts of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), funded by CAPES (PIPD), within the research line Image and Culture. He is a member of the Brazilian Association of Art Critics (ABCA). In 2024, he was a researcher at the Research Laboratory of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo (MAM). He works as an independent curator, art critic, and lecturer. His writings have been published in books, exhibition catalogues, and both academic and widely circulated cultural journals. Among other projects, he curated the exhibitions Margins of ’22: Popular Presences (2022) and Fear, Fascination, and Repression in the Folklore Research Mission (2015). CV: http://lattes.cnpq.br/6550451974680965. Contact: dralexandrebispo@gmail.com.
2 Michele Bete Petry is a historian, holds a Bachelor’s degree in French Language and Literatures, and Master’s degrees in History and Education. She earned her PhD in Education from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) in 2016. She completed postdoctoral research in History at UFSC (2017–2018) and at the Research Division of Theory, Art, and Criticism of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the University of São Paulo (MAC USP, 2018 – 2020), conducting research on the work of Tarsila do Amaral. She is a member of the Brazilian Association of Art Critics (ABCA) and has been writing and publishing on Tarsila do Amaral since 2017 in academic journals and periodicals within the arts field. She also develops initiatives aimed at disseminating the study of the artist’s work to broader audiences, including courses and critical analyses available on her website (www.michelepetry.art.br) and on Instagram (@michepetry). She contributed to the exhibition and catalogue Tarsila Popular at MASP and to the Tarsila do Amaral dossier of Beaux Arts magazine. She served as a substitute professor in the Department of History at the Santa Catarina State University (UDESC, 2011; 2023–2025) and in the Department of Specialized Studies in Education at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC, 2019–2021). She is currently affiliated with the Graduate Program in History at UFSC, where she is carrying out Senior Postdoctoral research funded by FAPESC, and she serves as a peer reviewer for the Brazilian Ministry of Culture under the National Program for Cultural Support (Pronac). CV: http://lattes.cnpq.br/7228034116385150. Contact: michelepetry.art@gmail.com.
