Roberto Burle Marx at the Jewish Museum, New York

‘Roberto Burle Marx: Brazilian Modernist’ focuses on the full range of the artist’s output and explores over 150 works. Pictured: mineral roof garden, Banco Safra headquarters, São Paulo, 1983.

(Image credit: Leonardo Finotti)

By Daniel Scheffler

last updated 10 October 2022

in Features

Roberto Burle Marx, credited as one of the 20th century’s most prominent landscape architects, is being lauded at the Jewish Museum in New York. ‘Roberto Burle Marx: Brazilian Modernist’ focuses on the full range of the artist’s output and explores over 150 works – from landscape architecture to painting, sculpture to theatre design, and tapestries to jewellery. After its debut, the exhibition will travel to Berlin, Germany and right back home to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Jens Hoffmann, deputy director of exhibitions and programs at the Jewish Museum, believes that Burle Marx deserves rediscovery on a large scale. ‘He was one of the most creative landscape architects of the 20th century, with projects ranging from the design for the Copacabana beach pavement to large-scale projects for Brazil’s capital city of Brasilia, executed with architect Oscar Niemeyer. He was an incredible creator.’

Although his Brazilian landscape design work is easily recognisable, most of the world is just not familiar with the artist’s true breadth. ‘Burle Marx was a veritable Renaissance man of the 20th century, and he embodied a highly contemporary way of working: crossing genres fluidly in service of a broader a worldview,' Hoffmann continues. 'His prescient attention to ever more urgent ecological issues, his disregard for the separations between fields of practice, and the courageous way he translated concepts across disciplines make him an inspiring figure for artists working today.’

In collaboration with Burle Marx, the museum will also be showing seven contemporary artists with ties to Latin America, whose work responds to Burle Marx’s multifaceted legacy. ‘It is a way for us to talk about [Burle Marx’s] continued relevance and influence,’ says Hoffmann.

Design for roof garden — Marx's ouevre ranges from landscape architecture to painting, sculpture to theatre design, and tapestries to jewellery. Pictured: design for mineral roof garden, Banco Safra headquarters, São Paulo, 1983.

Model of multi storey building — A maquette for the Ministry of Education and Health, Rio de Janeiro, 1937–42, by architects Lúcio Costa, Carlos Leão, Jorge Machado Moreira, Oscar Niemeyer, Affonso Eduardo Reidy, Ernani Vasconcelos, Le Corbusier (consultant), with gardens by Roberto Burle Marx

Man smiling at the camera &amp; birdseye view of a garden — Roberto Burle Marx (pictured left) and a view (right) of the rooftop garden of the Ministry of Education and Health, Rio de Janiero, 1938. *Portrait: Tyba.*

Drawing of stained glass windows — Although his Brazilian landscape design work is easily recognisable, most of the world is just not familiar with the artist’s true breadth. Pictured: a design for eight stained-glass windows for the Beit Yaakov Synagogue, Guarujá, 1985 (unexecuted)

Pond next to blue mosaic wall — A view of the gardens of the Walter Moreira Salles residence, now the Instituto Moreira Salles, with Burle Marx’s azulejo tile wall and plantings around a fountain, 1951.

Sketch of a pond — Jens Hoffmann, deputy director of exhibitions and programs at the Jewish Museum, states, ‘He was one of the most creative landscape architects of the 20th century... an incredible creator.’ Pictured: a sketch for the garden of Casa Forte (City Hall), Recife, 1935

Birdseye view of pavement &amp; road — A section of Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, designed by Burle Marx from 1988–2004

INFORMATION

'Roberto Burle Marx: Brazilian Modernist' is on view from 6 May – 18 September. For more details, visit the Jewish Museum's website

Photography courtesy of Sitio Roberto Burle Marx and the Jewish Museum

ADDRESS

Jewish Museum
1109 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10023

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Daniel Scheffler is a storyteller for The New York Times and others. He has a travel podcast with iHeart Media called Everywhere and a Substack newsletter, Withoutmaps, where he shares all his wild ways. He lives in New York with his husband and their pup.