Exhibiting British Surrealism and Abstraction in São Paulo in 1938

In its May 1938 issue, the London Bulletin announced:

"The English Surrealist group has been invited to exhibit in Brazil at the Municipal Theatre of Sao Paolo [sic]. Works will be exhibited by John Banting, James Cant, Geoffrey Graham, W.S. Haile, Charles Howard, Roland Penrose, Erik Smith and Julian Trevelyan."

This small intervention in the magazine of Roland Penrose and E.L.T. Mesens’ London Gallery was sandwiched between notices alerting the reader to Surrealist exhibitions in Gloucester and Amsterdam, and has received little attention. However, it is one of few Anglophone traces of an exhibition – which also featured abstract works by Ben Nicholson – at the Salão de Maio (May Salon) in 1938.

While practically unknown in British art history, the exhibition’s impact was recognised in Brazil. A contemporary critic noted that it was the first time collage was shown in the country. Brazilian art historian Paulo Mendes de Almeida’s indispensable 1961 history of modernism in Brazil considered the exhibition “an artistic happening of unusual importance”.

The talk will be Rosalind’s first opportunity to describe the circumstances of this exhibition, identifying many of the artworks shown, and reflecting on the importance of works on paper on artistic exchange. It highlights the role of Brazilian artist Flávio de Carvalho in organising the participation of the London-based artists, his artistic training in Newcastle and friendship with Herbert Read. It will also position this exhibition within the longer history of modern British art’s presence in Brazil, pre-empting the presence of Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and others at the São Paulo Bienal, founded in 1951.

Image Credit: Roland Penrose, Nourishment from Heaven, 1937, ink and pencil on paper. Image courtesy of Roland Penrose © Lee Miller Archives, England 2025. All rights reserved. www.leemiller.co.uk