Xul/Brazil: repertoires in dialogue

Abstract

Of the prodigious Latin-American generation of the historic avant-gardes of the 1920s, Xul Solar (Oscar Agustín Alejandro Schulz Solari, 1887-1963) was the only artist who incorporated Brazil into his repertoire in systematic form. His paintings, languages and library were open windows to Terra Brasilis. Five decades of intense production reveal an intellectual and mystical gaze and reflection very much trained on Brazil and the South-American continent in general. This article aims to decipher the "Brazilian mental repertoire" of Xul Solar and establish a near-inevitable comparison with Ismael Nery. The essay is the result of research conducted in the library of the Fundación Pan Klub at the Museu Xul Solar de Buenos Aires in 2004.