Source: Edward J. Sullivan (Ed.), Latin American Art in the Twentieth Century. New York: Phaidon, 2004, p. 207.
Painting: Ismael Nery (1900-1934): "Figura" (Figure; 1927-1928).
Comment: Like many other Brazilian artists, Nery studied in Europe. He was strongly influenced by Surrealism and by Marc Chagall, Chirico, and Picasso from 1927 onward. In Nery's works one often sees the fusion of religious elements with eroticism, as in the example above. Nery's ethnic background included Indians, Afro-Brazilians, and Dutch. He studied in the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes in Rio (National Fine Arts School), and in 1920, he studied art in Paris. Returning to Brazil, he worked as an governement architect. From 1920 to 1926, his style tends mostly toward expressionism, but in 1926 he turned toward the theological philosophy of Neo-Thomist Catholicism, which is known as essentialism. His themes generally revolve around portraits, self-portraits, and nudes. He died in 1934 of tuberculosis.