Famous Brazilian Artists & Painters

Sebastião Salgado is a Brazilian photojournalist and social documentary photographer. His photographic projects, which have appeared in numerous books and press publications, have taken him to over 120 countries. Sebastião Salgado is a recipient of several prestigious honors and awards such as the Oskar Barnack Award and Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal.

Romero Britto is a Brazilian painter, artist, sculptor, and serigrapher. He is best known for his distinctive style that fuses elements of pop art, cubism, and graffiti painting. Romero Britto is also known for using bold patterns and vibrant colors as a visual expression of happiness, dreams, and hope.

Vik Muniz is a Brazilian photographer and artist. He is best known for creating art with unconventional everyday materials like magazine clippings, dirt, tomato sauce, and chocolate syrup and then photographing them. His works have been exhibited worldwide and Muniz has achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success. The 2010 documentary film Waste Land chronicles a part of his life.           

Born to affluent coffee farmers in Brazil, Tarsila do Amaral later traveled to Spain and Paris, to study painting. Best remembered for her masterpieces such as The Black Woman and Man Who Eats, Tarsila also painted surrealist and semi-Cubist landscapes. She was a pioneer of the Antropofagia movement.

Roberto Burle Marx was a Brazilian landscape architect who achieved international fame for his designs of gardens and parks. He is credited with introducing modernist landscape architecture to Brazil and his work had a significant impact on tropical garden design that flourished in the 20th century. Roberto Burle Marx was also a print maker, painter, artist, musician, ecologist, and naturalist.  

Aleijadinho was a Brazilian architect and sculptor best remembered for his works in and on various churches of Brazil. Aleijadinho's works are generally considered some of the finest paradigms of Portuguese colonial architecture. Also among his best-known works are the famous Twelve Prophets, a set of soapstone sculptures at the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus of Matosinhos in Congonhas.

Diane, Duchess of Württemberg is a Brazilian-born French-German painter, sculptor, philanthropist, and writer. One of her best-known works Geburt der Isis is stationed at Altshausen, Germany. The Duchess is a patron of Russia's Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences. In 1979, she established an eponymous foundation to help disadvantaged children.  

Lygia Clark was a Brazilian artist best remembered for her installation work and painting. Clark discovered methods for viewers to interact with her work that dealt with the relationship between self and the outside world. Along with other important Brazilian artists, Clark is credited with co-founding the Neo-Concrete Movement. In 2014, one of her works was sold for $1.2 million.  

Almeida Junior was a Brazilian designer and artist best remembered for introducing the Realistic tradition of Jean-François Millet and Gustave Courbet to Brazil. Regarded as an important and influential artist in Brazil, Almeida Junior was honored with the Gold Medal by the Imperial Academy in 1898. His birthday is celebrated as the Day of Fine Artists in Brazil.

Cildo Meireles is a Brazilian installation artist, conceptual artist, and sculptor. He is best known for his installations that express resistance to political oppression. These installations, which are usually dense and large, are meant for a phenomenological experience and encourage viewers' interaction. Apart from Brazil, Cildo Meireles' works have also been exhibited in countries like the US and the UK. 

Butcher Billy is a Brazilian artist and graphic designer. His artwork is mainly based on the contemporary pop art movement. The influence of vintage comic books and street art is evident in his works. He often depicts fictional characters as real-life personalities, such as musicians, politicians, and historical figures. He is extremely popular on social media. 

Lasar Segall was a Lithuanian Jewish and Brazilian painter, engraver, and sculptor best known for depicting human suffering, war, persecution, and prostitution in his works. He was educated at the Kunstakademie Dresden. He derived inspiration from impressionism, expressionism, and modernism. Along with other artists, he founded an organization known as Sociedade Pro-Arte Moderna (SPAM). 

Daniel Azulay was a Brazilian comic book artist, visual artist, and educator. He is best remembered for creating the popular children's franchise, Turma do Lambe-Lambe. Azulay traveled the world exhibiting his works, giving lectures at universities, and conducting workshops on education, art, and social responsibility. Azulay and his work had a positive impact on an entire generation of the 1980s.

Brazilian-born Greek-origin painter and sculptor Constantine Andreou initially worked as a carpenter in Athens and later focused on sculpting. A scholarship took him to France, where he established himself as a fine painter. Apart from introducing new techniques of painting, he also launched a foundation to help budding artists.

Abraham Palatnik was a Brazilian abstract artist and inventor. He was born to Jewish immigrants from Ukraine in Brazil. He loved art from a young age and took art classes at the Municipal Art Institute of Tel Aviv. He made use of mechanical systems and light in his artwork and is considered a pioneer of technological art in Brazil. 

Francisco Brennand was a Brazilian painter and sculptor. He was best known for his work in ceramics. His father dealt in ceramic tile business and thus sent Francisco to Europe to study technical ceramic skills. In France, he discovered the ceramic work of Pable Picasso and Joan Miró and became a ceramic artist. He created thousands of pieces of artwork.

Carybé was an Argentine-Brazilian painter, engraver, sculptor, draughtsman, and illustrator. He began his career working in the pottery workshop of his elder brother, Arnaldo Bernabó. He was highly prolific and produced over five thousand pieces of work, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, and illustrations. He was also an active participant in the plastic arts renewal movement, alongside fellow artist Jenner Augusto. 

Rodolfo Amoedo was a Brazilian painter and designer. He received his training at the Academia Imperial de Belas Artes under renowned teachers including João Zeferino da Costa and Agostinho José da Mota. He participated in the Paris Salon for a few years before returning home to pursue an academic career. Brothers Arthur and João Timóteo da Costa were his students. 

Iberê Camargo was a Brazilian artist who was counted amongst the greatest expressionist artists from his country. He developed an early interest in painting and had a prolific career as an artist. His paintings primarily consisted of landscapes and portraits. After his death, his widow, Maria, created the Iberê Camargo Foundation to preserve and promote his work.