A “Young Caipira Dressed by Poiret”
As a Brazilian woman artist in Paris, Tarsila had to endure a number of stereotypes if she were to succeed in a Eurocentric, male-dominated art system. Her physique and the way she dressed never went unheeded. The critics expected both her and her artwork to exhibit an “exotic freshness” and a “very feminine delicateness,” as seen in the reviews in the press after her first exhibitions in Paris.
Tarsila took advantage of her appearance to construct her persona at the time, one of a modern Brazilian artist who subverted the established canon in her self-portraits.
As a “Caipirinha vestida por Poiret” (Young Caipira dressed by Poiret)—the verses Oswald de Andrade dedicated to her—Tarsila became the icon of the “profound Brazil,” while remaining in perfect harmony with the Parisian taste and with that touch of eccentricity that supposedly made her a true avant-garde artist.