Abaporu
| Abaporu | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Tarsila do Amaral |
| Year | 1928 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Movement | Brazilian modernism (anthropophagic movement), Surrealism |
| Dimensions | 85 cm × 73 cm (33 in × 29 in) |
| Location | Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires |
Abaporu (from Tupi language "abapor’u", abá (man) + poro (people) + ’u (to eat), lit. 'the man that eats people') is an oil painting on canvas by Brazilian painter Tarsila do Amaral. It was painted as a birthday gift to writer Oswald de Andrade, who was her husband at the time.
It is considered the most valuable painting by a Brazilian artist, having reached the value of $1.4 million, paid by Argentine collector Eduardo Costantini in an auction in 1995. It is currently displayed at the Latin American Art Museum of Buenos Aires (Spanish: Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, MALBA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The subject matter – one man, the sun and a cactus – inspired Oswald de Andrade to write the Manifesto Antropófago and consequently create the Anthropophagic Movement, intended to "swallow" foreign culture and turn it into something culturally Brazilian.