To know

Documental survey on the mural painting of Almada Negreiros (1938-1956)

It is incredible the information that can be obtained when one is willing to go deeper into archives. This (almost) detective work was carried out by the researcher Inês Cardoso in the last 12 months of project ALMADA. This research led her to visit several libraries and historical archives throughout Lisbon, and to consult more than 400 archives, 15150 pages of text, 1640 photographs, about 130 drawings and more than 1000 newspapers and magazines, published since 1938 to 1970.

The aim was to collect and gather the maximum amount of information produced at the time, and in the following years, about the production of mural paintings by Almada Negreiros. And why is that? Despite the documentation already published by art historians, doubts, curiosities, and questions remain unanswered. Among these are the organization and detailing of the assignments in terms of pictorial techniques and materials used, progress of the work, references to helpers, testimonies by Almada Negreiros, the appearance of the first signs of deterioration in his works (where, when, and by whom), and the measures taken for its mitigation. In the text that follows, three of the results obtained are highlighted, which will soon be the object of publication within the scope of the project.

The first refers to the unprecedented discovery of the contractual process for the execution of two 2 × 3 m frescoes at the former Patrício Prazeres Commercial School [ now Patrício Prazeres Basic School]. Even today, these mural paintings, which were the last executed by Almada in the city of Lisbon in 1956, are present on stairs and are known as Aula de Geografia [geografy class] and Aula de Ginástica [gynastic class]
 
The process discovered in the archive of Contruções Escolares contains: a) a letter from Almada dated July 19, 1955, in which the artist proposes to “execute in fresco two original cartons of his authorship and already officially approved”; b) the official awarded contract dated July 22,1955, and in the total amount of 50,000 escudos (Fig.1); and c), the payments made in January and June 1956, in the total amount of 2352 escudos, to Luís Ramos de Abreu for the preparation and laid down of lime-based renders, and assistance to the painter (Fig. 1 ). For the first time, an explicit record of a mason helping Almada was found in his work.

Figure 1. On the left, first page of the contract signed between Almada Negreiros and Eng. José de Lencastre e Távora, Deputy Administrator of the Junta das Construções for Technical and Secondary Education, for the execution of frescoes at the Patrício Prazeres School (July 22, 1955). On the right, one of the payment receipts made to Luís Ramos de Abreu in June 1956. Image source: Process n. And not. 532 and no. A/40 – “Escola Comercial Patrício Prazeres – Lisbon – Execution of two frescoes, by the painter José Almada Negreiros, by contract n. 668”, Box 02, Archive of School Buildings of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Education and Science.

Other result that we would like to share, although not unprecedented, is important to remember, as it elucidates the scrutiny to which Almada Negreiros was subject to carry out the commission of his most charismatic work at the Maritime Station of Rocha do Conde de Óbidos between 1946 and 1949.
Perhaps the displeasure that the paintings aroused after its completion, and the threat of destruction, followed by the high ranks of the Estado Novo regime [1], is common knowledge. However, those who still thinks that the adjudication process was peaceful are misled. From the beginning, this work was surrounded by controversy, first triggered by the 500,000 escudos requested by Almada for its execution. The reaction of the Ministry of Public Works did not wait, and not one, but six opinions were requested from the personalities of culture and the arts at the time for its adjudication (Fig.2).
 
Extensive official documentation on the subject can be consulted at Forte de Sacavém, but Almada Negreiros also tells us in an interview with journalist Gabriela Castelo Branco. From this piece of news, published in the Diário Popular on March 22, 1950, an excerpt is presented in which the artist addresses the subject and states that, despite the setbacks suffered, there were no repercussions on his work.
 
‘[In relation to the amount of 500,000 escudos requested], they found, as was acceptable, a little expensive. The eng. Cancela de Abreu, Minister of Public Works at the time, asked the 6th Section for its opinion. The outcome was favorable. Now, it's up to me to show here that I have not forgotten the justice done to me by eng. Gomes da Silva, by Dr. João Couto, by the architect Pardal Monteiro and, finally, by eng. Cancela de Abreu. I can say that I owe everyone the opportunity to dedicate myself to work that sincerely interests me.
- And you never had any setbacks?
- Yes, because everything represents a struggle, in which, if we, at certain times, let ourselves be overcome by a slight fainting, caused by ill will or misunderstanding of third parties, the work may even suffer. I never got upset about mine, despite the fact that, on one occasion, I realized that it had raised controversy. His pace did not falter, it held steady and quickened’
 

Almada Negreiros em 'Almada, aquele, que não se confunde com nenhum outro'
Diário de Lisboa, 1950

 Figure 2.  Correspondence from Eng. Henrique Gomes da Silva, Director General of DGEMN, to Eng. Augusto Cancela de Abreu, Minister of Public Works and Communications, to report on the disagreement with the opinions requested to define the amount to be paid to Almada Negreiros (27 December de 1946). Cultural Heritage (DGPC).

The third and final result of the research presented here concerns the conservation of paintings themselves. In this context, it is important to highlight the documentation of the former Directorate-General for National Buildings and Monuments (DGEMN), which, in two letters sent to Almada Negreiros on March 25, 1956, and September 25, 1964, informs him of the first signs of the deterioration of his paintings at the Maritimes stations of Alcântara and asks him for budget proposals for their conservation and restoration.
 
Despite this insistence, Almada did not reply, and from 1970, contacts were established with the José de Figueredo Institute (IJF) – still today a reference institution in Portugal in the field of conservation of Cultural Heritage – which culminated in the first restoration in 1971, one year after the artist's death (Fig.3). In the following decades, IJF technicians monitored not only the evolution of the state of conservation of these paintings but also of the remaining nuclei under study in this project. This history is recorded in the 14 processes of mural painting brigades in the archives of the José de Figueiredo Laboratory of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage (DGPC) and Library of Conservation and Museums of the DICA-DGPC.

Going to backstage

Rubric showing the ongoing scientific research and participants
Documental survey at the National Library (BN), Lisbon

Photo: Inês Cardoso in the dark looking at journal microfilms MGil2023- ALMADA project© all rights reserved.