Di Cavalcanti mural valued at approximately R$8 million is sold at SP-Arte

The work sold on the first day of the show was commissioned by a construction company and spent 56 years in the lobby of a building in Rio de Janeiro
A mural made in 1969 by Emiliano Di Cavalcanti, valued at approximately R$8 million, was sold during SP-Arte 2025. The work, whose final sale price was not disclosed, was one of the highlights of the event, the largest modern and contemporary art fair in Latin America, and spent 56 years decorating the lobby of a building on the edge of Copacabana beach, in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro.
The painting, which is over 2 meters tall, was at the fair through the Galatea gallery, which negotiated its sale on the first day of the event. The buyer was an art collector, but his identity was not disclosed.
"It's a painting that shows a bit of Rio de Janeiro life, but it's mixed with Bahia, so you don't know exactly where you are, but it has all of Di Cavalcanti's swing, and it was bought on the first day of the fair, in the early hours, in fact, by a collector who didn't want to waste time," said Tamara Perlman, director of SP-Arte, in an interview with Jornal Hoje, on TV Globo.

The untitled painting is considered one of the largest by the modernist artist, measuring approximately 277x231cm when framed, and was commissioned by a construction company to be installed in the Machado de Assis Building, a luxury condominium located on Avenida Atlântica, where it remained for more than 5 decades.

It was precisely the name of the building that led Di Cavalcanti to be inspired by Capitu and other works by the Brazilian writer to create the composition, whose highlights are the strong colors and the richness of details that refer to elements of Brazilianness, such as the Atlantic Forest. The mural was exhibited for the first time during SP-Arte.
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