Schendel immigrated to Brazil from Europe in 1949. A philosophy student and book lover, she found that her interests were more aligned with those of poets and theologians than with the artists of the Concrete art movement that dominated 1950s São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In the early 1960s the artist received a large gift of thin Japanese paper, which transformed her practice; she dedicated the following decade to exploring the medium of drawing and its potential. Featuring different languages and varying line weights, these drawings are, as she said, “an attempt to bring about drawing through transparency.”

Gallery label from

2023

Medium Oil transfer drawing on paper
Dimensions 18 1/2 x 9 1/16" (47 x 23 cm)
Credit Gift of Ada Schendel
Object number 1129.2009
Department Drawings and Prints

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Mira Schendel

Mira Schendel

Brazilian, born Switzerland. 1919–1988 60 works online

In the early 1960s, the artist Mira Schendel received a large gift of thin Japanese paper. It transformed her practice, giving rise to thousands of Monotipias and culminating in her Objetos gráficos of the 1970s, made while she dedicated a decade to the investigation of the medium of drawing and its potential.

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