Eye to eye - Temporary exhibition (cont.) at Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa - The 26th of July 2015

(...)

The artistic approach to the outstanding figure of the poet Fernando Pessoa  by three different artists was particularly interesting and I must confess that despite having already seen reproductions of two of those it was a completely different feeling to see them right in front of me.

Portrait of Fernando Pessoa - 1964 oil on canvas by Almada Negreiros (1893-1970)

Fernando Pessoa - Heteronimous - 1978 oil on canvas by António Costa Pinheiro

Fernando Pessoa's Summer afternoon dream - 1982-83 acrylic paint on canvas by António Dacosta (1914-1990)

A series of self-portraits followed and that was, I must admit equally interesting.

João Navarro Hogan (1914-1988)- 1959 oil on canvas self-portrait

Frederico George (1915-1994) - 1939 oil on cardboard self-portrait

Abel Manta (1888-1982) - 1933 oil on cardboard self-portrait

José Dominguez Alvarez (1906-1942) - undated oil on cardboard self-portrait

The fool - 1934 oil on canvas by José Dominguez Alvarez (1906-1951)

The architect José Pacheco - 1925 oil on canvas  by Mário Eloy (1900-1951)

The next five paintings were unknown to me and so were the painters, three of whom I had vaguely heard of (I must admit) but I was rather impressed by two or three of them (The botanist, Der Maler and the untitled one by Dário Alves specifically) and will undoubtedly carry out a research on other paintings pertaining to the same artists.

 

The red Bishop (left) - 1981 oil on canvas and the Blue Bishop (right) - 1981 oil and varnish on canvas byJorge Pinheiro (1931-)

The Botanist - 1986 pastel on paper by Adrian Wiszniewski (1953-)

Der Maler - 1980 oil on plywood by Rudolf Hausner (1914-1995)

 

The family in the garden - 1991 oil on canvas by Michael Andrews (1928-1995)

1986 untitled acrylic paint and varnish on canvas by Dário Alves (1940-)

The various paintings were insterspersed by photographs dated of the same period, though my attention was mainly focused on the painting.

 

I did enjoy the one hour exhibition time and by the time I left I was feeling a lot more relaxed ... there is no doubt that Art (in its various forms) has a soothing effect on me and I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live without it ...