The present article examines the debates surrounding “modern art” in the newspaper Correio da Manhã, one of the leading Brazilian dailies of the 20th century, between the years 1924 and 1937. A systematic and detailed reading of its coverage demonstrates that the subject was perceived in its time in a manner markedly distinct from the triumphal narrative enshrined subsequently by the historical literature. The article devotes particular attention to the correlations between modern art and the immediate political context, focusing on links between the art world and prevailing ideological debates. Noteworthy is the gradual ascendancy of discourses linking modern art to Communism, culminating in a fiery anti-Communist campaign in the wake of the military uprising of November 1935. The roles played by diverse agents influential in the history of Brazilian modernism are considered and reviewed; in particular: Graça Aranha, Oswald de Andrade, Mário de Andrade, José Oiticica and Carlos Maul. The aim of the present research is to provide primary data complementing the established view of the modernist movement in Brazil, which has traditionally accorded privileged status to sources produced by the modernists themselves and their heirs, as well as sources linked exclusively to the visual arts. A broader understanding of the contemporary reception of modern art provides a subtler and more problematized insight into its historical impact.