Biography
Lasar Segall (Vilnius, Lithuania, 1891 - São Paulo, 1957). Painter, engraver, sculptor, draughtsman. Of Jewish origin, he began his study of art at the Drawing Academy of Master Antokolski, in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 1906, he moved to Germany and studied at the School of Applied Arts and the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. He then went to Dresden, where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts. He increased his contacts with Impressionist painting, holding his first individual exhibition in 1910, at the Gurlitt Gallery. At the end of 1912, he came to Brazil, and in the following year, exhibited in São Paulo and Campinas, returning to Europe in the same year. He initially executed paintings with na Impressionist basis, under the influence of Jozef Israël and Paul Cézanne (1839-1906). From 1914 onwards, he became interested in Expressionism, developing himself fully within this aesthetic in 1917. In 1919, while in Dresden, and together with Otto Dix (1891-1969), Conrad Felixmüller (1897-1977), Otto Lange (1879-1944) and others, he founded the Dresdner Sezession Gruppe 1919, a group that brought together Expressionist artists within the city. In 1921, he published the album of lithographs, Bübüe and in 1922, the Erinnerung an Wilna - 1917 [Memoir of Vilna - 1917] with etchings. He returned to Brazil in 1923, settling in São Paulo, where he was a notable figure in Modern Art circles, being considered a representative of the European avant-gardes. In the following year, he executed the decorations for the Futurist Ball of the Automobile Club and the Modernist Pavilion of Olívia Guedes Penteado (1872-1934). He was one of the founders of the Sociedade Pró-Arte Moderna (SPAM) [Pro-Modern Art Society], in 1932, becoming its director until 1935. In 1967, ten years after his death, his house in Vila Mariana, in São Paulo, was transformed into the Lasar Segall Museum.

Critical Commentary
Lasar Segall travelled to Germany in 1906, where he attended the Academy of Fine Arts of Berlin, dominated by tendencies linked to the Impressionist and Postimpressionist movements. In his painting, Sem Pai [Fatherless] (1909), the free brushstrokes recall Impressionism, although the work has a sombre atmosphere, reinforced by the dark tones of his palette, the work standing out on account of its social and psychological portrayal of the characters. In 1910, Segall studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of Dresden. He began to adopt clearer tones, albeit while maintaining his inclination towards monochromaticism, characteristic of all his production, as is the case, for example, in Leitura [Reading] (1914). He showed an admiration for the work of Paul Cézanne, principally on account of the constructive aspect of the latter's brushstroke, as may be observed in Violinista [Violinist] (1912).

His first contact with Brazil occurred in 1913, when he exhibited in São Paulo and in Campinas, returning to Dresden in the same year. For the art historian, Claudia Valladão de Mattos, from 1914 onwards, the artist reveals an interest in Expressionism, seeking a new pictorial language and a more acute psychological characterisation of his figures. Under the impact of the First World War (1914-1918), Segall's painting reflects a concern with social injustices and human suffering. His paintings are structured using diagonal planes and show a tendency towards geometrisation, with a predominance of triangular forms. Segall uses dark and contrasting forms, e.g. in the painting, Aldeia Russa [Russian Village] (1917/1918).

In 1918, he went to Vilna, the city of his birth, a fact that marks his work, since it strengthened his identification with a number of Jewish issues that became important for his artistic experience. In the same year, he returned to Dresden. He now replaced the livelier tones of his first Expressionist phase with more sober ones, which he obtained through successive layers of paint in canvases such as Kaddisch - Reza para os Mortos [Kaddish - Prayer for the Dead] (1918) and Os Eternos Caminhantes [The Eternal Walkers] (1919). These paintings arose in an artistic environment marked by Cubism and the second phase of German Expressionism, which tended towards a realist approximation to the figure and included artists such as George Grosz (1893-1959) and Otto Dix (1891-1969). At the same time, by comparison with the lively colours used by these artists, the works of Segall have a melancholy or lyrical character and are worked in sober tones, with ochres, greys, blacks and violets predominating. The chromatic range alludes to sadness in such works as Pobreza [Poverty] (1921), in which the construction using previously used angular triangular forms gives way to more rounded lines and significantly deformed figures with huge eyes and heads.

In 1923, Lasar Segall moved to Brazil, where he came into contact with the young Modernists. In his first works realised there, he reveals his bedazzlement with the light and tropical colours, becoming aware not only of the landscape, but also of the Brazilian art world: his output carried on a dialogue with the works of Tarsila do Amaral (1886-1973), and of other local artists. In the canvases executed shortly after his arrival in Brazil, Segall's palette was transformed. The themes (black mothers, landscapes, favelas) are painted in open spaces, with clear and luminous colours. He made various works in which he accentuated the drama of figures marginalised by society: Menino com Lagartixas [Boy with Lizards] (1924) and Colina Vermelha [Red Hill] (1926) both date from this period.

From 1928 to 1932, Segall lived in Paris. During this period, he produced works with Brazilian motifs, also using recurrent themes such as emigration. The vibrant colouring of his canvases gives way to a softer, paler light. The paintings, Família do Pintor [The Painter's Family] and Maternidade [Maternity] (both dating from 1931) present a thicker surface, which is paralleled by the sculptures that the artist started to make. Segall began to structure his compositions through chromatic blotches, with the line becoming less predominant in his works. His experience with sculpture spilled over into his tones and the surface of the painting, with his figures acquiring volume and more sculptural aspects. His colours become earthy, with browns, greys and ochres, as may be seen in paintings such as Mãe Negra [Black Mother] (1930) and Casa na Floresta [House in the Forest] (1931).

From 1935 onwards, Segall painted landscapes of Campos de Jordão with a highly refined chromaticism. His work acquired the aspect of a dense material, with most peculiar colouring. Themes linked to human dramas persist in his large canvases, such as: Navio de Emigrantes [Ship of Emigrants] (1939-1940) and Guerra [War] (1942). During the 1950s, Segall's works revealed a greater artistic liberty, approaching Abstraction, e.g. Floresta Crepuscular [Forest at Sunset] (1956). In this work, nature is the inspiration for the vertical supports, in which he establishes a subtle study of light and colour.

Over the course of his career, Segall dedicated himself to various techniques of engraving. In his first works, he explored the use of shadows, accentuating the chiaroscuro. For Claudia Valladão, there is a certain discontinuity between Segall's graphic output during the period 1914-1916 and his painting. In the former, he moves away from the Impressionist aesthetic in works such as Cabeças [Heads] (1914), although the same does not occur in his painting, which moves into a transitional phase. In 1918, the artist produced five lithographs inspired by the tale Die Sanfte [The Gentle Maiden] by Dostoyevsky (1821 - 1881). These represent a high point in his output, due to the extreme concentration and simplification of the figures, conceived as geometric forms, the sparing line, and the play that the artist establishes between forms and voids. In the Mangue [Mangrove] (1926-1929) series, realised within Brazil, he deals with the theme of prostitution: a climate of tension predominates, established by the presence of elements such as shutters and curtains, or oppressive environments in which the characters are located. The Emigrantes [Emigrants] (1927-1928) series has a more tranquil atmosphere, with open spaces emerging in which the sky and sea are represented.

Drawings are important in Segall's output, and, as in his engraving, present recurring themes, such as the world of the socially underprivileged and marginalised. Segall heavily deforms his figures, locating them in spaces that oppress them, to create a climate of sadness and neglect.

His humanism, which is revealed through his concern with violence, misery and social injustice, as well as a certain lyrical character, are present throughout his career. Segall deals with universal themes, expressing them with emotion, through the colours of his paintings or the play between line and void in his graphic output.