Expressionist Forum Segall published a book of five etchings in
Dresden,
Sovenirs of Vilna in 1919, and two books illustrated with
lithographs titled
Bubu and die Sanfte. He then began to express himself more freely and developed his own style, which incorporated aspects of
Cubism, while exploring his own Jewish background. His earlier paintings throughout 1910 to the early 1920s depicted troubled figures surrounded in claustrophobic surroundings with exaggerated and bold features, influenced by African
tribal figures. In 1912 his first painted series of works were conducted in an elderly insane asylum. Segall's work largely portrayed the masses of persecuted humanity in his
Expressionist form. Later that year, he moved to
São Paulo, Brazil, where three of his siblings were already living. He returned to Dresden in 1914 and was still quite active in the Expressionist style. In 1919 Segall founded the '
Dresdner Sezession Gruppe 1919' with
Otto Dix,
Conrad Felixmüller,
Otto Lange and other artists. Segall's exhibition at the Galery
Gurlitt received multiple awards. However successful Segall was in Europe, he had already been greatly influenced by his time spent in Brazil, which had already transformed both his style and his subject matter. The visit to Brazil gave Segall the opportunity to obtain a strong idea of South American art and, in turn, made Segall return to Brazil yet again.
Beginnings in Brazil: Modernist trends Though Segall was still a Russian citizen, he moved back to Brazil in 1923. Upon Segall's return to São Paulo he obtained Brazilian citizenship along with his first wife, Margarete. While in Brazil, his paintings were influenced heavily by the
Red Light District in
Rio de Janeiro. Many Brazilian artists influenced Segall's subject matter and strengthened his
Cubist form. He became acclimated within his newfound country and painted themes contributing to Brazil's countryside, mulattoes,
favelas, prostitutes and plantations. Due to the harsh and extreme nature of Segall's portrayal of
prostitutes and his depiction of human suffering, his artwork became controversial. This particular controversy in his artwork caused he and other well known artists to organize a pro
Modernist event known as the
Semana de Arte Moderna. The week-long event included Segall's work, as well as
Anita Malfatti's largely controversial artwork. Not only were paintings included, but performances and other art forms were conducted at the event. Segall's
avant garde innovations ranked him highly among other Brazilian outstanding modern artists during that time, like
Candido Portinari and
Emiliano Di Cavalcanti. Though Segall had intended to reside exclusively in Brazil, he continued to return and forth to Europe for his own personal exhibitions. In 1925, Segall became extremely close to his pupil
Jenny Klabin and eventually married her. The organization of SPAM fought for justice yet, disagreements arose between
Integralists, known as Brazilian
Fascists, that discriminated against foreigners in Brazil, especially Jews. With this large amount of controversy and intolerable strain on SPAM's membership, the group soon fell apart. The image depicts a heavily condensed and large number of people on the dock of a ship. Although this does not coincide with much of Segall's previous work of human suffering, this provides the audience with a deep depiction of (at the time) the contemporary and controversial waves of emigrants and human affliction and persecution. Later in the mid-1940s, Segall published his series of
Mangue drawings that revealed poverty, specifically in the Rio de Janeiro slums. Becoming wholeheartedly closer to his Brazilian nationality, Segall portrays these images in a stark manner, yet the underprivileged and oppressed images provides a significant cultural identity for the Rio de Janeiro inhabitants. From 1949 until his death in 1957, he continued to work on engraving and painting
Mangue as well as producing a series entitled
Wandering Women and
Forests. ==Subject matter and themes==