Emiliano di Cavalcanti (1897–1976) was a Brazilian artist, printmaker and writer, born in  Rio de Janeiro and paved the way for modern art in his country.  He trained to be a lawyer but turned to art seriously after a successful exhibition in São Paulo in 1917.

In 1922 he help to set up the Semana de Arte Moderna in São Paulo  which is regarded as pivotal in Brazilian culture celebrating dance, literature and painting together. From 1923-1925 he worked in Paris for the newspaper Correio de Manha during this time he became acquainted with notable avant- garde  artists such as Braque, Matisse and Picasso. He continued to visit Europe regularly for the next 20 years.   

His work draws on a wide range of influences such as Cubism,  Fauvism and I understand, Picasso’s Neoclassicism of the 1920s which he blended with his own colourful style and suited to the Brazilian subject matter he enjoyed; mulatto women, carnival, poor fishermen and prostitutes.  It seems his cheerful, conservative brand of modernism and his delight in local subjects won him great popularity in Brazil. This wood cut is a fine example of this.

I am really looking forward to finding some more examples of his work during my visit and read more about him he was I understand always an advocate for the poor and oppressed and went to great lengths to aid and protect them