Alexandre Melo

Alexandre Melo is curator of the Private Bank collection and Elypse Foundation. The collection of Private Bank was a collection started more than half a dozen years and was originally a collection of contemporary Portuguese art only and that was to be gathered under the protocol between the Private Bank and the Serralves Foundation, according to which works from the collection of the Private Bank be deposited in Serralves, which made the acquisition criteria and acquisitions were decided in collaboration with me as responsible for the collection of the Private Bank and the artistic director of Serralves, Vicente Tolodi at the time, even at that time with the collaboration of João Fernandes, and later with João Fernandes as director.

After 3 or 4 years of work became an exhibition of the collection of the Bank in Serralves, which occupied the entire space of the museum, only Portuguese art. Later Dr. João Rendeiro, President of the Bank, has decided to make an international art collection, continuing the collaboration with Serralves. With the evolution of the collection has an international dimension with Dr. João Rendeiro had the idea to create the Elypse Foundation, headed by him, with the assistance of other people from Portugal, Brazil and Spain, is an international foundation based in the Netherlands, though the center array is in Portugal, with the most ambitious goal of building a collection of international contemporary art that will become a reference collection for the period from the turn of the century, the end of the XX century, beginning of XXI century. There are 3 curators and then there is a panel of consultants with whom we formally met once or twice a year.

The collection has three components, have the artists that we consider historical, with works from the late ‘70s, first half of the 80s, then there are some artists who are at the core of the collection that had a stronger claim, most unique in the panorama world in the last 10, 15 years, and then we have emerging artists, who began to hear the last 5, 6 years.

That idea of the criterion of art as the pope who builds and destroys a reputation with a text, I think no longer exists. Today most of the texts which are published on the plastic arts are not critical texts, texts are news, reports, interviews, news stories and appreciation of works depends on a discourse that is more journalistic than properly critical in the artistic sense.

The whole situation of collecting along the XX century is miserable. Portugal reached the end of the XX century without having anything at all, it is a scandal, is the demonstration of absolute cultural underdevelopment of Portugal throughout the XX century.

The Berardo Collection is a collection that comes to modify significantly the reference of collecting and of the art in Portugal and the lending contract (loan to the State) for 10 years is balanced. The Berardo Collection was created by historical chronological criteria encompassing the likeness of a compendium or a history of art blocks, values ​​didactic and pedagogical perspective.

I'm currently cultural adviser of José Sócrates without power of decision or budget.

The art market today essentially passes through London and New York although Germany and France still have some weight, but there are art centers emerging everywhere.

There is often international exhibitions in which there are so many Portuguese artists such as Spanish, in the younger generations of artists.

João Fernandes

João Fernandes said that in Portugal more than art collectors have been buyers of art. Tradition of collecting in Portugal.

It is curious to think how in Portugal, in Portuguese houses and in the Portuguese collections the decorative arts are emphasized at the expense of painting or sculpture. This ends up falling in a chain that doesn’t encourage artists to develop, to create works.

Portugal continues to have artists and always had. In the XX century, although things are extremely difficult in the history of Portugal, we have generations of very interesting artists modernism either the first or the generation of Amadeu de Sousa Cardoso, Eduardo Viana, do Almada Negreiros, who were contemporaries of his time, practically since the 60s Portugal has produced successive generations of artists where artists always found very interesting and which are often not known outside Portugal due to the isolation of the country , the lack of structure and lack of collectors too.

The gallery is richer for what they buy than for what they sell.

The collections of Mr. Abreu in Oporto have been an international collection of great size, with Portuguese and international artists, and sold his collection to Jorge Brito, in international auctions and powerful international galleries who came to Portugal in the 70s, because he was frightened by the economic and political context of the time .

Sometimes certain market forces don’t exist because the price of the artwork is set with a randomly between the artist and the gallery regardless of purchase and sale.

I think that over the last 5, 6 years a new generation of people is interested in art, the emergence of this new generation also represents a new phenomenon, globalization in the contemporary art market, the rapid circulation worldwide collectors, the new phenomenon of art fairs, the new role that galleries have, all of this come to Portugal .

Are the collectors that feed the market and in turn allow artists to work and survive.

Portugal has been a very unstable country because it has very few institutions working with art, has a very low circulation system for an artist in terms of exhibitions within the country. It is very difficult for a Portuguese artist, never the less it is easier than other times, move out of the country, and actually I think the galleries haven’t established collectors.

Regarding galleries programming there are sometimes options that I don’t understand. In Serralves we made over 200 exhibitions and off Serralves since the museum opened, were no more than half a dozen foreign artists that we exposed, and there were hundreds who have had exhibitions in galleries in Portugal.

Museums are institutions of reference, see the schedules of museums, see the resumes of artists, there are several ways to build knowledge; I don’t present artists firsthand unless it is a contest of artists. Institutions serve as a reference and guidance for collectors. This new generation of collectors sometimes doesn’t buy in Portugal, or don’t buy Portuguese artists, because they feel unsure of the options available to them. However they will buy in ARCO or London or New York because they feel confident that what a Gallery in London or New York offers.

The art world today is a very prolific constellation of artists and if we see the artists that are in fashion at any given time may cease to be in another, the art world is a very complex phenomenon because somehow became industrialized and in this aspect seems all more confusing, because everything is much larger, there are thousands of artists, worldwide, each Venice Biennale presents us with more than 200, 300 or 400 artists.

This industrialization of art began to emerge 20 years ago. Today there are thousands of people living from the art, living of selling art, living buying art, living exhibiting art, living writing about art. Maybe artists are a minority today in the art world, while at 30 or 40 years ago weren’t. This means that there is commercial and non-commercial art, which is art that sells and doesn’t sell, it doesn’t mean that one is good and another bad.

The art is in principle what artists do. What characterizes the work of art is that there are no rules regarding styles, genres and media, a true collector doesn’t buy works of art only to decorate the house, it is said that a collection usually begins when home decor ends.

The programming of Serralves Museum sought constitute a core that represents the 60s and 70s in contemporary art, we locate those dates the beginning of contemporary art that our choice was curiously accompanied by a recognition soon after, after we have done this and opened the museum, the big auction houses like Christie’s, Sotheby's and Phillips began to create specific departments of contemporary art following the same timing.

In the 60s and 70s we saw a paradigm shift in relation to the work of art, we find an entire society that discusses and discusses their limitations, their characteristics, their structure, their forms of organization, etc.. The biggest breakthrough of the XX century in the artwork, in the years 10, 20, appeared when Soviet Constructivism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Futurism, the major avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century will be reviewed by this second generation that will not mention, however will carry them in a certain way and recast one way of making art in the sense that Richard Serra spoke of art without boundaries, this radical notion that undermine the art object, which dematerialized the art object, which stops transform in merchandise, that goes against his presentation and preservation in museums, it undermines the museum, the artists at the time closed several museums in demonstrations and strikes in various countries of the world, will require transforming the museums and transforms the art world. This is a major revolution. And no doubt it was important for us in a country that had lost the artistic contemporarily all along the XX century, assuming a museum of contemporary art. Would have no problem in assuming a museum of modern art, but with the budget we had available that would be completely impossible and secondly we think is a priority of a contemporary art museum. We did it in the 90s, we started making this collection from 97.

The opening exhibition of the Museum had an exhibition - manifesto of his new collection, with works of Portuguese artists and foreign, representative of the historical period that is covering. With the title “Circa 68 " , 08 JUN 1999 to 29 AUG 1999 this exhibition held simultaneously Museum and House , presenting not only the works of the collection but also other works that allow contextualize.  Constituted thus a presentation about the collection and around the collection, demonstrating the artistic and cultural context of experimental languages ​​that have become a cultural symbol of the western world the year 1968. We present a set of 600 works produced between 65 and 75 , bought over seven years 80 % these works, from 97 until today acquired about 1000 works, and then we have several collections on deposit here, since institutional collections as the Luso-American Foundation , the collection of the Ministry of Culture and several private collections .

But for us it was a priority during the early years of the museum to remove something that was very negative in Portuguese society. If Portugal had no Matisse, Picasso, Brancusi, Giacometti, Man Ray, Portugal had failed in the XX century in a certain way, at least we could have Richard Serra, Oldenburg, Polke, i.e., fundamental names of contemporary art at the same time seek to represent a Portuguese context.

It will be shown that there is a paradigm shift of Portuguese art, is from the late 50s that a set of Portuguese artists go abroad thanks to grants from the Gulbenkian Foundation and also artists seeking information against the regime against censorship, against the lack of freedom. And say obsolete discussions that went on Portuguese art begin to be violated by a new generation of artists , and the generation of Lourdes Castro, René Bertholo, Helena Almeida, Angelo de Sousa, Ana Haterly, Ernesto Melo e Castro, Ana Vieira, we have so many artists who actually constitute a new generation that is contemporary of his time .

In fact Portugal has a new generation that is contemporary of his time with modernism, with Amadeu de Sousa Cardoso, Parisians 1st generation, and then has a 2nd generation only in the 60s, phenomena of artistic contemporaneity in the range of these two periods are very rare and almost only occasional and personal. It is the case of Fernando Lanhas, Manuel Pereira da Silva and Nadir Alonso.

On the other hand, was very important for us to look at the international context from the Portuguese art and look at the Portuguese art from the international context, because there are areas of intersection and there are works by foreign artists that we bought on the basis of Portuguese artists we have in the collection, and there are works of art by Portuguese artists we buy because of foreign artists who have in the collection, thus seeking dialogues, meetings, etc. .

While the 60 and 70 there is a period that somehow encompasses a whole set of nuclear artists that work and work in various countries of the world, whether in Germany, or in Italy, with art povera, either in the U.S. with conceptual art and post -minimal, also in France.

From the 80s the artists don’t exist as groups, movements or languages​​, each artist is a concept of art is a language, there is no longer a period.

We want to have emblematic works of artists but especially work that surprise. What is a label of an artist is your receipt, we want to be agents of a receipt and so do our research, our study. Regarding the generation of 80 and 90 we are working on constellations of artists looking name to name, such as Thomas Schulte, Luc Tuymans, José Pedro Croft, and Pedro Cabrita Reis.

We do not have a permanent exhibition as the Soares dos Reis Museum, our collection is young and only expose one to two times per year at the museum, it circulates in other museums around the country, and we now have 14 exposures out.

When I look for an artist, I try to understand what is his language, which is what he adds to the art that I know and what problems he poses to art. More than knowing is surprised by what you don't know. The artist builds and creates problems for itself, there is a confrontation of the artist himself and the confrontation that transpires after the work.

Today there are young artists who began working 5 years ago and have an exhibition in New York, in London; it would have been unimaginable 20 years ago. Today there is a great curiosity in the world in relation to Portugal.

For me the ideal museum would be a mixed of a lab, a workspace and experimentation while library for scholars, this museum doesn't exist today.

Cristina Guerra

Cristina Guerra works with contemporary art since 1983-84. Cristina Guerra Gallery opened in 2001, alone. Before she worked with Filomena Soares, 97-99. And before that worked at the Cultural Center which led to the Centro Cultural de Cascais. At this time she had artists going outside to make museums. When they started working with her the artworks coasted 500€ and now cost 20,000€. But it takes a very long time, is 10 years. The galleries have the actual quote of the artist, the real price of an artist is in the galleries. For her the triangular system of the gallery, the critic / curator and collector remains valid and essential. A curator theorizes what the artist does and so there is a better understanding of the work by the collector.

Until 97 people just wanted canvas and started buying papers. Nowadays the paper can be as expensive as a canvas, the main interest is the artwork itself.

The Americans, British and a bit the French art collectors if they appreciate an artwork they buy. The Swiss and Germans want to know what the artist did, studying the artwork and only then they buy.

From 2004 everyone is already on the internet and it's easier to know what artists are doing.

Cristina Guerra states that nowadays we have a problem, there isn’t a museum with a permanent exhibition of Portuguese artists, there are only temporary exhibitions and we see very little Portuguese artists. There are many foreign collectors who ask her where they can see Portuguese art and she have to take them to other galleries. At the Reina Sofia Museum there is a floor where is seen only Spanish art. Nowadays we don’t see half career artists or we see the older or the very young. What happened was that the directors of the museums prefer foreign things than the Portuguese, she thinks it should be the middle term, which is to perceive, to contextualize. The Serralves Museum is at four years to buy. She usually says that "we are now a cultural center." There are many people who come to see but not buy. Passos Coelho went to Serralves the first time in his life a short time ago. This is amazing, isn’t it? The current Secretary of State is a person who understands, at least he knows everything. But the guy who is directing the Institute of Arts doesn’t know anything at all. Mário Soares, António Guterres and Durão Barroso were educated people, interested who visited the galleries.

Cristina Guerra states that, in 2007, the strategy of the gallery with a view to greater international visibility of our artists in the international market began to put some artists she worked with and had exhibited to international collections in auctions at Christie's and Philips: "what happened is that I had to put an artwork at auction and then I would have to buy through other people who bought them.” Because we don’t have art market many art collectors see the catalogs of auction houses, especially international. There are many people, even in Portugal, studying art, even some galleries, trough the auction houses to see the evolution of the rising price of an artist.

Cristina Guerra believes that there is an evolution of private art collecting in Portugal towards greater social and cultural responsibility. The interest of this new collecting is that the Portuguese art becomes more internationalize and therefore they offer works of Portuguese artists to some foreign institutions: "right now there are collectors who buy now artworks, to be in the Tate. In which they don’t benefit as patrons. It is something that is common practice in almost all countries, including Brazil, in Portugal that practice doesn’t exist. "

Cites several reference collections, such as the recent collection of Miguel Rios Foundation, Elypse collection is closed, has few Portuguese artists, is very mainstream, there is another collection, but with few Portuguese, he is Brazilian, but the idea is more South America and Middle East which is the art collection of Luis Augusto Teixeira de Freitas, the Cachola collection is the only exclusively of Portuguese artists, and he isn’t a private banker or businessman, is an employee, can make a collection that every agent respects, and some institutional collections, BES Art collection, EDP, and others who have made collections but have stopped buying a long time, cases of PT and Culturgest . "I can’t understand the lack of interest from institutional, or governmental or State funding for this area of ​​contemporary art. Because economically are tradable. Why there is no more support in acquisitions, we must do something about the culture, as cultural tourism exists and is increasingly implemented".

What happens is that usually comes a crisis and all the collectors disappear and others appear, we are always in a new beginning.

Cristina Guerra states that have 70 square meters in Basel, and the whole operation costs 90,000€, which is nonsense. Most artists that exposes are Portuguese, costs about 10,000 €. Less discount of less than half, which is what she earns, typically has a loss. Unless you sell a foreign artist, are pieces of 80,000 € 90,000 € 100,000 € 200,000 €. Looking at the financial and economic side I ought to have given up long ago. The Portuguese Galleries normally goes to the art fairs of: ARCO, Art Basel, Art Basel Miami, Art Forum Berlin, FIAC, Vienna Art Fair, Art Rio and Shanghai. I went into Miami in 2002 and 2003. The collectors go all to the same art fairs. Our rulers if they go to ARCO is already very good, but some don’t go. When I was in APGA with Pedro Cera, the State rested for 2 international fairs with a minimum stand. In the first year, four years ago, there was 200,000€, has now been reduced to 100,000€. Sometimes the State support an artist, occasionally, like Joana Vasconcelos at this moment, I think this exhibition completely idiotic.

Pedro Oliveira

Pedro Oliveira says that the embryonic art market starts in the 80s, in Portugal. From 79-80, when the political situation begins to calm down, start opening some galleries, shyly. It was there that appeared the Gallery Roma e Pavia was through my brother. After 85 took care of the gallery. Earlier poured myself some friends, especially Jaime Isidoro, started with the artists of my generation. It was a bit of market / dealing: doing exhibitions, little by little, in new trends, but as we had to earn money doing parallel market, through friends who arranged more expensive works, as was the case of Jaime Isidoro. From 90 it started to grow, and appeared many art critics. From there I decided to move facilities and go for something greater, and came here. At the time it was the largest gallery of Portugal, and started moving towards the international market and does more international programming. I ventured out of here, to get contacts. That was my golden period, the decade from 1990 to 2000. I won enough money, things went fine to me, brought forth names of very interesting artists of international art. Despite all still kept some interesting pace until mid-2000. The discovery of the Brazilian market was at the entry of Brazilian artists. Now have 25 artists and 6 exhibitions a year do they have to wait 3 years to get around.

Pedro Oliveira is a defender that the galleries should be networking and do not mind sharing with other collectors galleries.

Pedro Oliveira believes it might be interesting to have specialized auctions houses of contemporary art in Portugal, such as Christie's or Sotheby's, and that this would not affect the galleries: "could not affect much if there was a history of good auctions level of contemporary art in Portugal, which never happened. "

Pedro Oliveira believes that auctions in Portugal are a mixed: it is with silverware antiques with contemporary art through. Contemporary art to appear at auction but strayed things. And all that appears is a very low, which is very bad. The only auction company that was willing to risk in doing one or two auctions of contemporary art in Portugal, was the S. Domingos, in Oporto, made ​​me for this proposal I submit to APGA (Portuguese Association of Art Galleries), only that APGA would not risk it.

Pedro Oliveira stated that there was much money in Oporto in the 80s; there were many collectors, especially in the industrial belt textile and footwear industry. I also had many contacts in Spain, especially Galicians who came here to Oporto. Since 2000 Oporto declined, Lisbon started to grow and began to appear in large collections in Lisbon. The head offices of large companies, some began to do, professionals, advisers, as Culturgest, EDP and Banks (Photo BES), but rather to individuals and to society PLMJ lawyers well-structured collections. Sáragga Leal was already a collector, was able to convince members of PMLJ to form a corporate collection, and have focused on very young people were helped by Manuel Amado, who is an art critic and at the time was the adviser of them. If there is an artist that starts getting famous they buy. Also began to open many galleries in Lisbon. Despite being in Oporto, I sold a lot to Lisbon and exposed some of my artists in Lisbon through some galleries or institutions, 2001-2008. Then came the collapse of Lehman Brother and ruined everything!

Pedro Oliveira states that art fairs are important. To disclose, to show and to create contacts. Got to sell all he had to empty the stand, at Art Basel Switzerland, which is the Rolls Royce of art fairs. Only this time the Portuguese cannot afford to do art fairs. There is no support from the state and galleries have as a priority, given the current time of crisis, survival. If I am selling a part Portuguese abroad, I am exporting a commodity with a special connotation linked to culture, which is an important embassy, ​​is an asset to the level of the country's image.

Modern and Contemporary Art Collectors

Luis Castelo Lopes states that the concept of art investment begins in 1973 or 74 in which the pension fund of the English Railway had money that was an absurd thing and found that there was likely to be monetized some of that money. And then grabbed 0.4 % of the fund, which at that time were 40 million pounds, and delivered to a committee chaired by a guy from Sotheby’s. And started selling 10 years later, on 83 and 89 until sold. Of the initial 40 million, they made 280 million. And there were many curators who advised.

The fact that several collections made ​​without criteria since the mid 80s here in Portugal, were bought by counseling sometimes not very good. These collections were made generally in a short time, between five and ten. Another reality, he says, is the collection made over several decades, twenty, thirty, thoughtful, and generally more successful in terms of investment. By his experience also linked to the antiques market, the collections of family, generations, which include, in addition to painting, the furniture, the silver, porcelains, are a tradition of a certain type of art collectors who disappeared in Portugal.

Regarding collecting art Fernando Santos points out the shortage of collectors: there are not many collectors. “There are few collections that can be called collection.” And stresses how good collections Ilídio Pinho, with about 700 works, but this project has stopped. The Berardo Collection is also mentioned as a good collection.

Jaime Isidoro in 2004 about art collectors in Portugal claimed "there are a few. There are two large collections of Portuguese art, which is mine, with about 500 pieces, made ​​over 50 years, and Manuel Brito; it was I who started Jorge de Brito. The Berardo Collection is not of Portuguese art, Portuguese art is misrepresented.

Manuel de Brito in 2005 relates to shortage of collectors “there is not much. There are group of lawyers Saragga Leal. "

Pedro Alvim also relates this tradition of collecting classical art and antiques as a reality throughout the entire Ancient Regime.

For Peter Meerker the reflection of the economic crisis on the art market in Portugal, already narrow, the situation is dramatic. "We're going to galleries and no sales, the market is very narrow.” Collector’s role is very important because their collections are deposited in museums, if we look at history and we see great works of art around the world in its genesis they began to be acquired by a collector.

Joe Berardo states that the initial acquisition of the works was taken by Francisco Capelo, taking advantage of a favorable environment of low prices in the late 80s. The Portuguese art in 2003 was represented with 40 works totaling about 660.

Modern and Contemporary Art Auctions

As this art market began to grow and be attractive in several auction houses emerged in Portugal and associated themselves with this aspect of interest in the contemporary art market, mainly from 2000.

Auctions are essentially a framework of economic reference on the state of the art market.  Its activity is public, open and publicized, serve as guides to assess the quote of the artist.

Mainly specialized in the commercialization of art, ancient or modern, the auction houses have been ensuring their way into contemporary art in recent years.

The Palácio do Correio Velho Auction House was established in 1990. Currently beyond the Palácio do Correio Velho and Cabral Moncada, in Lisbon, World Legend (Leiria & Nascimento), S. Domingos and Marques dos Santos, in Oporto, are some which operate in this market.

Pedro Alvim states that in 1996, when Cabral Moncada Auctions was created, it was a very residual company. I came here in '99 and was a firm as at the beginning, very small. In fact the modern and contemporary art was completely residual. The first auction of modern and contemporary art was held in 2007 and from there make an annual auction only to the market for modern and contemporary art.

The auction houses that have traditionally existed in the Portuguese market until 2000-2002 were devoted to the antiques market.

Fernando Santos believes that currently the auction houses and galleries collide, there are a lot of offer, there are those who sell low prices by necessity, but some use auction houses for “strategy games “. Built up some artists like that, but it happens more in the international market.

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

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