Myra Landau
and softened the world of geometry.
Myra Landau [1926-2018] was a pioneering artist who redefined Latin American modernism with a sensitive yet powerful geometry. Best known for her iconic Rhythms, she broke away from the rigid lines often associated with the male-dominated abstract art of the 20th century. Her work explored a softer, more organic visual language — capturing movement, energy, and emotion in graphic form.
The term Sensitive Geometry offers a compelling lens through which to understand Landau’s visual language. It was used as the title of an exhibition curated by Pilar García at the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City, which ran from September 2024 to February 2025. García’s curatorial and investigative work has been instrumental in shaping how we revisit and celebrate Myra Landau’s legacy today.
Her compositions radiate a softer, more organic geometry, capturing energy in graphic form and creating a dynamic yet delicate visual language. Despite her innovative style and contributions in Mexico and beyond, Landau’s work remained underrecognized due to the prevailing patriarchal discourse that often marginalized female voices in art.
Fleeing Nazi persecution, she lived and worked across six countries, shaping a truly transnational artistic identity—rooted in her Romanian heritage, Brazilian upbringing, and the vibrant Mexican artistic milieu. As both painter and poet, she built a cohesive body of work, each piece a testament to her boundary-breaking vision and sensitivity.
I am searching for a balance that I cannot find in the irrational world that surrounds me.
“What Myra does is enrich the field of geometricism with a sensitive geometry, more gestural and with the body involved in the creation. Through large canvases, her strokes invite the viewer's body to enter the painting, a quality that makes a difference in the geometric art we know.”
- Pilar García
Romania:
A turbulent early life
Myra Landau was born on December 5, 1926 in Bucharest, Romania. As a Jewish girl, her early years were marked by the harsh realities of antisemitism, which she experienced both personally and through her family’s struggles under Romanian fascism.
Her formative education in Romania and England nurtured her artistic and literary inclinations. She began writing short stories and poems, including one about a girl born upside down who saw the world in reverse.
In 1940, just months after the outbreak of World War II, her family fled Romania, journeying through France and Portugal before finally finding refuge in Brazil.
The impact of my arrival at Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, on a splendid day, no longer fearing that something would happen to us, the rhythm that from then on marked me, follows me and haunts me, and I let it, pleased.
Brazil:
A rebellious youth
Myra grew up introverted, often lost in books and inspired by writers such as Stefan Zweig, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Jorge Amado. Formal schooling held little significance for her and living in Brazil profoundly shaped her worldview, especially her awareness of the struggles in the favelas.
Pursuing her dream of becoming a writer, she attended the New School of Social Research in New York, and studied under influential thinkers such as John Dos Passos and Erich Fromm.
She married in 1950 and gave birth to her daughter, Dominique, the following year. However, her marriage soon ended in divorce.
Artistic beginnings
Ceramics
Myra’s artistic journey began in 1951 when she stepped into a ceramics workshop. This unexpected encounter propelled her into the artistic world, where she studied under the French artist Robert Tatin.
I didn't know then that at that moment my destiny was being shaped...
Figurative period
In her quest for exploration and self-expression, Myra discovered new art forms and, much to her parents’ exasperation, began painting with an obsessive fervor. Influenced by Dufy, her early work depicted daily scenes in the favelas, as well as portraits and still life.
In 1955, she learned metal engraving under the guidance of Brazilian artist Oswaldo Goeldi. Encouraged by her uncle Marcel Janco, co-founder of Dadaism, she continued to paint and soon began exhibiting her artwork in cities like Buenos Aires, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro.
She formed friendships with prominent Brazilian avant-garde artists, writers, musicians, and critics of the 1950s, including Mário Pedrosa, Aracy Amaral, and Federico de Morais, who became both her peers and admirers.
In 1958, Franco Terranova, founder of the internationally acclaimed Petite Galerie in Rio de Janeiro, invited Landau to showcase her work in a solo exhibition.
I work during the day, and I paint at night.
Mexico:
Transformation of an artist
In 1960, she married Miguel Salas Anzures, the head of Fine Arts at INBA (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes) in Mexico. Through him, she gained access to Mexico's vibrant intellectual and artistic circles.
During that time, she pioneered a distinctive engraving technique called Metal Relief, which involved using acids to etch designs into metal plates.
This innovative approach garnered acclaim from prominent art critic Paul Westheim, who praised her work in the influential magazine El Nuevo Arte de los Metales. Esteemed art historian and critic Jorge Olvera also recognized the significance of her technique.
The devastating loss of her 7-month-old son plunged her into deep mourning. Yet, she continued to create. In 1963, she held her first solo exhibition in Mexico, showcasing her engravings alongside traditional prints.
Despite growing recognition and participation in numerous exhibitions, health concerns eventually led her to abandon this technique.
The artist reveals unsuspected possibilities in metal […], intense in its expression, filled with lyricism and nostalgia.
The Rupture Generation -
Myra became a significant figure in The Rupture Generation (Generación de la Ruptura). This movement sought to challenge the dominant artistic narrative of Socialist Realism championed by figures such as Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Unlike their predecessors, La Ruptura artists—comprising both native Mexicans and immigrants, many of whom were refugees from World War II—embraced diverse artistic styles and innovative approaches.
Many of them participated in the Salón Independiente, an influential artist-led initiative in Mexico between 1968 and 1971. It provided a platform for breaking away from institutional constraints and traditional Mexican art forms, allowing for greater experimentation and creative freedom.
Other prominent artists from the Rupture Generation include Vicente Rojo, José Luis Cuevas, Lilia Carrillo, Fernando García Ponce, Manuel Felguérez, Kasuya Sakai, Helen Escobedo, Ernesto Mallard and Ricardo Rocha, among others.
The birth of Rhythms -
The year 1965 was a turning point for Myra. Her stepson, in a moment of raging impulse, destroyed her artwork, an act that triggered a personal crisis. Seeking solace and renewal, she retreated to the sea in Tecolutla, Veracruz, where she found the space to heal and reflect. That’s where she found her definitive artistic expression: painting with pastel on raw linen.
Since then, all her works have been called Rhythms. She discovered in the undulating lines of the sea the direction her art should take. She became a true pioneer in this technique, becoming the first Latin American abstract painter to use free geometrical movements in her compositions.
In 1966, just a few years after the death of her baby, her husband Miguel passed away as well. She sought refuge in her Rhythms, garnering widespread recognition and participating in numerous exhibitions across Latin America.
In 1974, she began teaching at the University of Veracruz’s Faculty of Fine Arts and became a full-time researcher at the University’s Institute of Aesthetics and Artistic Creation. In 1975, she published Si Sabes Ver, a book featuring daily philosophical reflections for her art students.
"[T]hese lines flow, and as they flow, they accumulate existence and a non-narrative significance [...], they unfold rhythmically, which allows them to attain vitality."
– Raquel Tibol, 1981
Why rhythm? Because rhythm is everything. It’s in everything. Life. Poetry, music, dance — everything has rhythm. Rhythm is beauty. Rhythm is mystery, despite its apparent simplicity.
Italy: New artistic expressions
In 1994, she moved to Italy and continued exploring abstraction, focusing on breaking frames and pushing beyond geometric boundaries.
Her works from this period often incorporated materials like fragments of X-ray film and layers of ink, reflecting her pursuit of new techniques, including experiments with digital art.
During this time, she also immersed herself in poetry and introspective writing, launching a personal blog as a space to blend her artistic and literary expression.
Israel: Muted tones
In 2010, she moved to Israel, entering a period of depression that deeply shaped her art. Her works from this time, particularly the Sombras y tierras de Israel (Shadows and lands of Israel, 2010-2013) series, were characterized by muted tones and somber imagery.
I don’t believe in borders. I don’t like flags. I have no boundaries. My only homeland: friendship, love, and justice for all.
The Netherlands:
Final Years
At the age of 88, Myra moved to the Netherlands to be near her family. She continued to draw and write fervently, until a few days before her death. Myra Landau passed away on July 14, 2018 at the age of 91 in Alkmaar, The Netherlands.
What is art?
Art is everything, and everything is art, as long as we make our life a work of art.