In his youth, Di Cavalcanti attended studios and worked as an illustrator and art editor for periodicals such as the magazine Panoplia (1917). He was one of the main conceivers of the Modern Art Week of 1922, the inaugural moment of modernism in Brazil. In 1923, he moved to Paris where he met cubist artists Fernand Léger (1881–1955) and Georges Braque (1882–1963), whose stylized drawing and geometric construction of the scenes influenced his own style. After his return to Brazil, as a member of the Communist Party of Brazil (PCB), Di was a key figure in the artistic and intellectual debate that took place in São Paulo, especially through his activities in the Clube dos Artistas Modernos [Club of Modern Artists] (CAM), which he helped to found in 1932. He espoused figuration for conveying political and historical meanings, generally depicting Brazilian characters and themes. Cinco moças de Guaratinguetá [Five Girls from Guaratinguetá] is one of his most important works. The five standing figures, with their different skin tones and variously colored dresses, occupy all the planes of the painting, each with her own character. The areas of color on each body and in the scene are distinctly delineated, with gradations that lend them volume and depth. Anonymous, the girls from the interior city demonstrate how commonplace, popular themes held a central place in Brazilian art during modernism.
— MASP Curatorial Team, 2015
