Traditional Indian handicraft items-such as baskets, pottery, and jewelry-were the earliest expressions of art in Brazil. The sculpture of Antonio Lisboa ranks among the earliest and best-known examples of Brazil's colonial art. During the late 1700’s and early 1800's, he created many beautiful religious figures for churches in the state of Minas Gerais.

Brazilian literature has long been known for its revealing descriptions of the country’s people. In the mid-1800’s, Brazil’s Indians and slaves appeared as themes in many notable works, including poems by Antonio Goncalves Dias and Antonio de Castro Alves, and the book O Guarani (1857) by Jose de Alencar.

In the early 1900's, the novelists Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis and Euclides da Cunha won fame for realistic portrayals of Brazil's changing society. Machado de Assis's best-known novel, Dom Casmurro (1900), has been translated into many languages. Cunha's famous novel Os Sertoes (Rebellion in the Backlands, 1902) describes an actual peasant rebellion of the 1890's.

After 1920, Brazilian literature began to show a strong regional influence. Famous novels dealing with the struggles of people in the northeast and Minas Gerais were Jubiaba (1935) by Jorge Amado and The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (1956) by Joao Guimaraes Rosa.

During the 1900's, several Brazilians won fame for their distinctive styles in other arts. The architect Oscar Niemeyer designed strikingly modern public buildings for Brasilia. The painter Candido Portinari created bold murals that now hang in the United Nations General Assembly Building in New York City and in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The composer Heitor Villa-Lobos beautifully combined classical and Brazilian music in his Bachianas Brasileiras symphony.

Popular music from Brazil won international attention during the 1900's. Antonio Carlos Jobim and Joao Gilberto composed songs in the style of lilting Brazilian dance music called bossa nova. Sergio Mendes also wrote many tunes based on the bossa nova style. The composers and singers Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso became known for a style of music called tropicalism, the lyrics of which dealt with social issues. Milton Nascimento composed and sang songs in a style that blended aspects of traditional Brazilian folk music with elements of jazz, rock, bossa nova, and classical music.
Brazilian motion pictures and plays also have gained world attention. The work of filmmakers Carlos Diegues, Nelson Pereira dos Santos, and Glauber Rocha and playwrights Dias Gomes and Nelson Rodrigues have won particular acclaim.