Tarsila do Amaral’s bold, colorful and unique painting style, evident in Cartão postal, made her a leader in Brazil’s modern art movement. She was a member of the Grupo dos Cinco (Group of Five), which included five Brazilian artists who greatly influenced the country’s art scene in the early 1900s. Cartão postal shows the city of Rio de Janeiro situated within its verdant and mountainous landscape. In the foreground a monkey reclines in a treetop while hills rise from the horizon in the distance. Tarsila went on to shape popular understandings of Brazilian culture and identity by painting the country’s peoples and the landscapes they inhabited.