European avant-garde and Brazilian modernism

In this already renowned reference work, Gilberto Mendonça Teles brings together poems, lectures and avant-garde manifestos from abroad and Brazil published between 1857 and 1972. Essential reading for any study on the subject, now in an expanded edition.

This expanded edition of Gilberto Mendonça Teles's "Avant-garde Europe and Brazilian Modernism ," complete with a new preface, is released amid the centennial celebrations of the 1922 Modern Art Week. The event is considered the inaugural event of modernism in Brazil. Many of the intellectuals and artists who spearheaded this movement had lived in Europe after World War I and thus brought with them ideas and techniques that had been emerging there since the final decades of the 19th century.

Gilberto Mendonça Teles presents a rich panorama of modernist movements, a journey accompanied by texts by artists who were able to foresee the breath of change in the 19th century — such as Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, and Stéphane Mallarmé —, names that were protagonists of the European avant-garde — such as André Breton, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Tristan Tzara —, exponents of Brazilian modernism — such as Mário de Andrade, Oswald de Andrade, João Cabral de Melo Neto, and Murilo Mendes — and, finally, those who marked a more experimental period in Brazilian art — such as Décio Pignatari and Wlademir Dias-Pino.

European Avant-Garde and Brazilian Modernism is a title that invites readers to understand the paths of one of the most important artistic movements of the 20th century, responsible for reflecting on a new meaning for humankind in the world and for helping to construct this perception: what it means to be modern.

“[…] Gilberto Mendonça Teles presents essential pieces of the process by bringing together […] the avant-garde manifestos of Europe and Brazil. […] this book offers us the essential starting point for any research.” – Paulo Rónai

“[…] the book organized by GM Teles provides a more mature understanding of what was in 1922 […] the spirit of Brazilian modernity: a conscious response to the incitements made to Man by his time.” – Laís Corrêa de Araújo.