Estate of the artist Acquired from the above by the present owner
Exhibited
Rio de Janeiro, Museu de Arte do Rio, A Cor do Brasil, August 2016 - January 2017
Catalogue Essay
Ivan Serpa embodies the Brazilian vanguard of the mid-20th century and is best known for his work in geometric abstraction and Concrete art. His role as the principal instructor at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro helped cultivate Brazilian national ideologies surrounding art as well as establish a modern democratic approach to artistic participation that rejected old hierarchical art institutions. As a leading member of the Rio-based Grupo Frente, Serpa’s art ideologies were greatly influential for the emerging generation of artists that included Hélio Oiticia, Lygia Pape, and Lygia Clark. Serpa’s Neo-Concrete works are widely celebrated as demonstrated by his inclusion in such prestigious institutional collections as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.