The article explores the use of geopolitical criteria as a method for classifying art, so as to revise criteria considered prejudicial to the appreciation of art in its symbolic and sociological dimension. With reference to Brazilian art, it presents classification models that are based on dichotomies such as exoticism vs. civilization, centre vs. periphery and nation vs. universalism, these models have informed museum directors, historians, art critics and curators, for more than a century. Those dichotomies are analysed in critical discourses from colonial paintings as well as those related with Brazilian modernism. It concludes that only a study of the finer nuances of the interactions between individuals and groups can lead to the comprehension of the complexity of artistic creation processes, breaking free from the constraints of geopolitical classification categories and permiting its transit through yet unknown areas.
Art; Classification; Geopolitical Criteria; Brazilian Art