Books on Portugal: Portuguese Art

by Michael Tannock

(Phillimore)

ISBN: 0850333121
352pp

When one thinks of 20th century art, the countries Spain, France, USA, England, even Germany and Holland will probably come to mind. Portugal is unlikely to be thought of. In fact you may be hard-pressed to think of even one modern Portuguese artist, which is a shame, as there is a lot of vibrant art being produced there. Part of the problem is that there is little in the way of books on Portuguese modern Art. This book is the exception. It covers more than 2,000 artists in the period 1900 to 1974, and is organized as a biographical dictionary. As a reference work on modern Portuguese art, this book has no competitors. The information on each artist is factual, avoiding opinion and value judgment. Half the book is given over to photos of the works, including almost 100 superb color plates. Modern art came late to Portugal, and when it did it was, as in other countries, influenced by artists returning from studying in Paris, perhaps the most important being Amadeu de Souza-Cardosa. In sculpture the most significant on the direction Portuguese sculpture was to take was Francisco Franco, who also studied in Paris. As in the rest of Europe, the period after World War 2 saw an explosion of new styles, but figurative painting dominated for a while, typified by the work of Joao Hogan and Julio Resende. In the 60's there was another upsurge of diversity, but this time the influence was more by Portuguese artists studying in England, such as the sculptor Joao Cutileiro. If you are planning on visiting any galleries on your trip to Portugal, this book will be most valuable, as it includes a list of galleries by town, or if you simply want to explore a little known area of modern art, I would highly recommend it.

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