Modern and Contemporary Art Museums

Manuel de Brito says that the 50s were a period of Franciscan poverty was linked to politics, first directors of the museums were academics, reactionary, had a Prime Minister who knew nothing of art and reposed confidence in a guy named Eduardo Malta, who was director of what is now the Chiado Museum, was the Museum of Contemporary Art. Anyone enter in the museum that was not academic. Making a living with art only on demand, particularly sculptors, and orders were made by the Government, by António Ferro, was a sensitive and responsible for advertising.

The Modern Art Centre of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation was inaugurated in 1983. It was the time when the work of modern art had almost no acceptance in Portugal.

Joe Berardo concerns regarding museums that artists benchmarking is not always the right one and is subject to the taste of the director of the museum that hold the position at the time.

Julião Sarmento highlights the lack of a contemporary art museum in Portugal, and the fact that this role be filled by private institutions such as the Gulbenkian or Serralves. "There are no museums; Portugal is the only European country that does not have a museum of contemporary art of the state. The Chiado Museum is a museum of the XIX century, is a box the size of a walnut shell."

Fernando Santos says that Serralves is losing power at this time. Had a very important director, João Fernandes. Tired, because things did not work well and there is no money for programming people end up discouraging and tiring.

Hargreaves, Manuela – Colecionismo e Mercado de Arte em Portugal, O Território e o Mapa. Porto: Edições Afrontamento, 2013.

Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries

The scarcity of gallery market in Portugal, the first gallery appeared in 1954, Jaime Isidoro (painter) with Alvarez Gallery in Oporto, although he had closed several years, and in 1964 the 111 Gallery Manuel de Brito, in Lisbon.

As regards Jaime Isidoro " There was no market, the exhibits were up, put up the paintings and retired without selling out ," Manuel de Brito relates the same decertified landscape of our art market " At that time it was unthinkable anyone have a project commercial gallery. " Manuel de Brito considers that the period was the biggest crisis that followed the April 25, 1974, because virtually closed almost all the galleries.

Manuel de Brito says that the first two exhibitions that made Paula Rego have not sold a single framework. Begins to have a more direct interaction with artists in a college bookstore that had side of the Faculty of Sciences at Lisbon, in an area of ​​3x4 meters, after stores were wandering around and I was getting these spaces. Never crossed my mind to be a collector, had some friends who gave me some things, but things that they did not confer great value, not me, because there were no numbers to overwhelm the idea that it was a value. I do not know why the artists were appearing: "why do not you make here one gallery? Had your friends and such,” " but this does not give me anything and my former employer partner said: but this gives something of the art? ", “Do not give anything" but I like to do things that not everyone has the outset a materialist interest. "

José Augusto França draws attention to the fact that the "Hundred Club" - exclusive group of one hundred members, passionate about collecting art contributing hundred escudos to a common fund, which would be applied in the purchase of works by Portuguese artists living through a draw - moved higher amounts of money than the National Museum of Contemporary Art. Although the activity has ceased in 1968, after two years of the club, Manuel Brito, treasurer during activity time that core would channel some of those contacts to his customer portfolio.

Regarding the evolution of gallery scene in the 70s records the inauguration of galleries, having lived throughout the first phase of its existence a period of strong political and social turmoil and virtually no art market, as is said by Alexandre Melo.

The gallery owners Fernando Santos and Pedro Oliveira, Oporto, and Cristina Guerra, Lisbon, arise in the art scene 20 years later, covering the effervescent 80 and subsequent years.

Fenando Santos says that our market is small, with prominence of Lisbon, which is situated the most of institutions, thus making it difficult to manage a gallery in Lisbon and Porto. Started is activity in the 80, invited by Gallery Nasoni in Oporto, with a project that has brought a dynamic to the art market. The Nasoni comes at a prosperous time, was well positioned had good relations with the media business. Became a reference of the art market in Portugal.  At this time the art market grew: There are more and more artists and more visibility. There are more galleries. There are art fairs. There are more private collections. The internet and social networks that did not exist 30 years ago, revolutionized a drastically the diffusion of information and communication The Portuguese art market has opened up to the world.

Juliâo Sarmento stresses that what matters for the internationalization today is the power of large galleries, major collectors, art consultants, and international curators, thus ruling out the possibility of any Portuguese gallery a Portuguese artist get put on top of that because internationalization Portugal has no power to do so.

Hargreaves, Manuela – Colecionismo e Mercado de Arte em Portugal, O Território e o Mapa. Porto: Edições Afrontamento, 2013.

Collecting and Art Market in Portugal

 

Hargreaves, Manuela – Colecionismo e Mercado de Arte em Portugal, O Território e o Mapa. Porto: Edições Afrontamento, 2013.

In this book Manuela Hargreaves give us a view of the modern and contemporary art in Portugal. The small world of Portuguese art which are almost nonexistent breath studies devoted to art collecting, the art market and, in general, what we might call the material conditions of circulation and reception of art objects.

A huge number of artists made the body of what one might call a Portuguese art, that is, an art that comes in fruitful dialogue, the major issues that arise to art internationally, but without having to do outside of Portugal throughout the XX century, and start with Amadeo, the fact is that, in cultural, economic and symbolic plans, the country was unable to follow this immense happen.

Culturally to see his first contemporary art museum, the newly created Serralves Foundation, opened its doors when the XX century was over. No public institution, so as to fit Gulbenkian solitary, private foundation, partly fill this gap . There will be many other examples of such inanity in civilized Europe.

Also critical, as well as the history of art in Portugal, were lame and slow to keep up with the bulk of the work of artists, only in the second half of the century institutions began to watch a more systematic effort to survey and critical attention to contemporary artistic production since the first half of the century, the reflection on art was scant and most often was left to mere journalistic description. It was not until the 70 of the XX century to appear a first synthesis of the XX century due to José Augusto França. Newspapers devote less and less space to the disclosure of this activity, having disappeared the few art magazines that briefly existed. In this sense the press failed.

On the economic front, the XX century was also a desert. Although some collectors have emerged, Augusto Abreu and Jorge de Brito, Portugal failed to sustained construction of a solid art market, able to give consistency to the circulation and sale of works of art and everything was confined to pioneer and historical activity of two galleries, Alvarez of Jaime Isidoro and 111 of Manuel de Brito, since all have not gone too timid and temporary experience.

The majority of Portuguese artists, is very interesting that his work was confined to the mediocre narrowness of a culture that disbelieves herself and whose guardians are essentially uneducated.

The relevant artistic activity going on almost all by the National Society of Fine Arts ( SNBA ), in the decades 60-70 .

Pen on Bristol board

Manuel Pereira da Silva

Man and Woman, 1990

Pen on Bristol board

29,5x42 cm

Christ

Manuel Pereira da Silva

Christ, 1978

Pen on bristol board

50x65cm

Aesthetica – The Art & Culture Magazine



 

 

Motherhood, 1965

Plaster on aluminum structure

53cmx105cmx56cm

Manuel Pereira da Silva is included in the August/September 2013, issue 54, in the Aesthetica – The Art & Culture Magazine, with an artwork in the Artists’ Directory in the magazine and on the online directory: http://www.aestheticamagazine.com

Christ

Manuel Pereira da Silva

Christ, 1955

Watercolour on bristol board

27,5x38,5cm

Oil Painting

Manuel Pereira da Silva

People, 1962

Oil on bristol board

50x32cm

 

Charcoal on paper

Manuel Pereira da Silva

Untitle,1990

Charcoal on paper

21x29,5cm

Oil

Manuel Pereira da Silva

Untitled, 1957

Oil on paper

20x35cm