Expressive women painters and printmakers: a unique chapter. Informalism and abstract expressionism in Brazil

Abstract

This article discusses Informalist and Abstract Expressionist art in Brazil, focused on the production of printmakers and painters who adhered to non-geometric abstractions or experimented in this direction, between 1950s and 1960s, many of whom also developed pedagogical activities in studios and museums. Names like Fayga Ostrower and Yolanda Mohalyi are better known, having been the subject of art criticism at the time and having solo shows over the years. In the field of printmaking, attention is drawn to Anna Bella Geiger and Edith Behring, student and teacher, respectively, at the important printmaking studio at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro - MAM RJ. However, the painter Sheila Brannigan is rarely remembered, although much discussed by the press of the time. Conceptually, on the one hand, I will discuss Brazilian criticism about these artists; on the other, in feminist-oriented studies particularly about Abstract Expressionism, I bring in new views about artists such as Elaine de Kooning, Hedda Sterne and Helen Frankenthaler. The corpus chosen for this research is based on the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the University of São Paulo - MAC USP, which holds exemplary works of these artists.