Almada Negreiros, artist

On April 7, José Sobral de Almada Negreiros is born in Roça Saudade, in São Tomé, an island in the São Tomé and Príncipe archipelago, which remained a Portuguese colony until 1975. His father, António Lobo de Almada Negreiros, born in Aljustrel in 1868, was a poet, a journalist, and the governor of São Tomé between 1890 and 1899. His mother, Elvira Freire Sobral, born in 1873, was the daughter of a Portuguese rural landowner and an Angolan woman. Educated at Colégio das Ursulinas, in Coimbra, she was very skilled in drawing.

His brother, António Sobral de Almada Negreiros, is born. On April 23, together with his parents and brother, he embarks to Lisbon and will never return to his birthplace. His parents go back to São Tomé; he and his brother remain in Cascais, taken in by their maternal grandparents and uncles.

On December 29, his mother dies, at the age of 24, while pregnant with her third child.

He and his brother are sent to a Jesuit boarding school in Campolide, Lisbon. During their rare periods away from school, on holidays, they live with their maternal uncles. His father moves to Paris and remarries.

Transfers to Liceu de Coimbra, a public high school, after the closing of the Jesuit school, following the establishment of the Portuguese Republic. He and his brother are taken in by a friend of their father.

Enrols at the International School of Lisbon. Makes his artistic debut at the age of 18, with the publication of a cartoon in A Sátira, a Lisbon magazine.

Publishes several cartoons. Writes his first plays: O Moinho [The Mill], which has been lost, and 23, 2.º Andar [23, 2nd Floor]. 

Contributes to the 1st Portuguese Humourists Salon, at Grémio Literário, in Lisbon.

Together with his brother, lives for a short period with his uncle and aunt.

Paints four oils on canvas for a tailor shop, Alfaiataria Cunha, in downtown Lisbon.

Frequents the coffee shop A Brasileira, in the Chiado quarter. Fernando Pessoa mentions Almada for the first time in a personal journal: “I went with Almada Negreiros to his room to look at the pieces for the exhibition; I found them very good.”

Holds his first solo exhibition, of about ninety drawings, at the International School of Lisbon. Fernando Pessoa publishes a critical review of the event.

Takes part in the 2nd Exposition of the Portuguese Humourists Group, in Lisbon.

Contributes to the first issue of Orpheu, a vanguard magazine edited by poets Fernando Pessoa and Mário de Sá-Carneiro, with Frisos [Friezes], a series of prose poems.

Takes part in the 1st Humourists and Modernists Exposition, in Porto.

Writes the poem A Cena do Ódio [The Scene of Hatred] under the pseudonym “Narcissus of Egypt”, intended for inclusion in the third issue of Orpheu, which would never be printed (the poem was partly published in 1923, and fully in 1958).

Meets in Lisbon, in the summer, Sonia and Robert Delaunay, newly arrived from Spain, where they had been surprised by the outbreak of the First World War. The couple settles in Vila do Conde for two years and Almada exchanges an intense correspondence with them, especially Sonia, planning several projects and the Corporation Nouvelle, formed by the Delaunays, D. Rossiné, a Russian painter living in Paris, the Portuguese Almada, Eduardo Viana and Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, and later joined by poets Guillaume Apollinaire and Blaise Cendrars. None of this would come to pass.

Writes the short story “Saltimbancos (Contrastes Simultâneos)” [Acrobats (Simultaneous Contrasts)] and the poem “Mima-Fataxa – Sinfonia Cosmopolita e Apologia do Triângulo Feminino” [Mima-Fataxa – A Cosmopolitan Symphony and a Praise to the Female Triangle] (published in 1917 in the magazine Portugal Futurista). 

Choreographs his first ballet, O Sonho da Princesa na Rosa [The Dream of the Princess in the Rose].

On April 26, Mário de Sá-Carneiro takes his own life in Paris.

Publishes the poem Litoral [Coast], dedicated to Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso.

In July, publishes the Manifesto Anti-Dantas e por extenso [The Anti-Dantas Manifesto in full]. He had written the text the previous year, after attending the première of Soror Mariana by Júlio Dantas, which he had booed. It is said that Júlio Dantas bought the entire edition to prevent its circulation.

In December, writes and publishes the manifesto Exposição Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, Liga Naval de Lisboa [Amadeo de Souza Cardoso Exhibition, at the Lisbon Naval League]. Years later he would recall that at that time he made an artistic pact with Amadeo and Guilherme de Santa Rita next to the painting Ecce Homo, at the Museum of Ancient Art, and shaved his hair, beard and eyebrows.

Publishes the Futurist short story K4 O Quadrado Azul [K4 The Blue Square]. On April 14, together with Guilherme de Santa Rita, holds the 1st Futurist Conference at Teatro República, where he reads the manifesto “Ultimatum Futurista às Gerações Portuguesas do Século XX” [Futurist Ultimatum to the 20th-century Portuguese Generations], later published in Portugal Futurista, along with his famous picture wearing a boiler suit. 

In October, writes and prints as a leaflet the manifesto Os Bailados Russos em Lisboa [The Russian Ballets in Lisbon]. Attends the Russian Ballets shows in Lisbon in December, and fraternizes with the company’s impresario, Sergei Diaghilev, and dancers. The first and only issue of Portugal Futurista is published, containing several texts by Almada. The edition is immediately seized by the police and its sale prevented.

Publishes A Engomadeira – Novela Vulgar Lisboeta [The Ironing Girl – An Ordinary Lisbon Novella].

Choreographs and costume designs A Princesa dos Sapatos de Ferro [The Princess with the Iron Shoes], a ballet in which he also performs as “the Witch” and “the Devil”. 

On April 29, Santa Rita Pintor dies.

Choreographs the ballets O Jardim de Pierrette [Pierrette’s Garden], for which he also designed the set and costumes, and O Sonho do Estatuário [The Dream of the Statue Maker].

On October 25, Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso dies.

Leaves for Paris. Takes a room in a cheap hotel and works as a cabaret dancer. Meets, among others, Max Jacob, Pablo Picasso, Erik Satie and Constantin Brancusi. Writes several texts in prose and verse and devotes himself to drawing.

In August, travels to Biarritz, where he works at the Patapoom nightclub, run by Homem Cristo Filho. Returns to Paris in September, taking a job in a candle and lighting factory.

Returns to Lisbon on the day he turns 27. Holds his third solo exhibition, with the drawings made in Paris, at the Main Hall of Teatro de São Carlos. 

Plays the villain in the (lost) movie O Condenado [The Convict], directed by Mário Huguin.

Contributes to the 3rd Portuguese Humourists Salon, held at the National Society of Fine Arts, in Lisbon.

Delivers, at the Lisbon Naval League, the conference “A Invenção do Dia Claro" [The Invention of the Bright Day], presented by António Ferro. The book edition of the conference is released in December by Fernando Pessoa’s Olisipo.

Among other works, concludes the play Antes de Começar [Before the Beginning], which would be staged in 1949 and published in 1956.

Makes a speech at the Rally of the “New Ones”, at Chiado Terrasse, in the context of an attempt by younger artists to take over the National Society of Fine Arts.

Starts his collaboration with Contemporânea magazine (which would last until 1926).

Travels to Madrid in August and joins the literary gatherings at Café Pombo, led by Ramón Gómez de la Serna.

Publishes the book Pierrot e Arlequim, Personagens de Teatro [Pierrot and Harlequin, Theatre Characters].

Writes the novel Nome de Guerra [War Name] (only published in 1938), set in the Lisbon of the 1920s, which would soon disappear.

Participates in the 1st Autumn Salon at the National Society of Fine Arts, in Lisbon, with the two canvas he painted for the Brasileira coffee shop, in Chiado — Self-Portrait in a Group and The Bathers, as they have since become known.

Paints a female nude for the Bristol Club.

In a letter to newspaper Diário de Notícias, announces his discovery concerning the famous polyptych attributed to Nuno Gonçalves: “the six panels have a common tiled floor” and must be ordered “according to the tiles’ perspective”.

Starts publishing comics in the humorous weekly magazine Sempre Fixe.

On March 31, leaves for Madrid, where he would stay for five years, taking on numerous painting and illustration commissions and contributing to various projects. Participates in the season’s opening group exhibition at the Dalmau Art Gallery, in Barcelona. Frequents the intellectual gatherings at the Granja “El Henar” cafe, as well as the Arrumbambaya Restaurant, where he befriends Federico García Lorca.

Holds a solo exhibition of drawings at the Iberian-American Union, in Madrid.

Starts writing El Uno — Tragedia de la unidad [The One – The Tragedy of Unity], a set of two plays, Deseja-se Mulher [Woman Wanted] (published in 1959 with the date ‘Madrid, 1928’) and S.O.S. Meets Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, whom he accuses of ingratitude towards the Portuguese Futurist artists.

Does mural decorations for the Students’ Residence of Fundación del Amo (destroyed during the Civil War) and for Teatro Muñoz Seca (also lost). 

Creates a set of twelve painted stucco relief panels for the Cine San Carlos’ façade and foyer, in Atocha, Madrid.

On November 29, La Tragedia de Doña Ajada: Poema bufo siniestro para canto, recitación, linterna mágica y gran orquesta, Op. 7 [The Tragedy of Doña Ajada: a sinister farcical poem for singing, recitation, magic lantern and grand orchestra], by the Spanish composer Salvador Bacarisse, with libretto by Manuel Abril and magic lantern by Almada Negreiros, premières at Palacio de la Música, in Madrid.

Lives with the actress and model Ione Mignoni, the daughter of Italian set designer Fernando Mignoni.

Does decorations for Cine Barceló, in Madrid.

Takes part in the 1st Independents Salon at the National Society of Fine Arts, in Lisbon.

Writes several theatre plays.

Returns to Lisbon on April 15.

At the invitation of Amélia Rey Colaço, delivers the conference Direcção Única [The Only Direction] at Teatro Nacional de Almeida Garrett in Lisbon, which will be published that same year.

Publishes newspaper articles criticizing Marinetti, then on a visit to Portugal, for having become a fascist academic, as well as António Ferro, who receives him.

Does two posters — with portraits of Beatriz Costa and Vasco Santana — and the opening titles for Cottinelli Telmo’s film A Canção de Lisboa [The Song of Lisbon]. 

Draws a poster for the National Secretariat of Propaganda (SPN), with the slogans “We want a strong State!” and “Vote for the new Constitution”. 

Holds his fifth solo exhibition at Galeria UP in April.

Attends a dinner party in honour of architect Porfírio Pardal Monteiro.

Draws a stamp for the special edition commemorating the 1st Portuguese Colonial Exposition. 

On March 31, marries the painter Sarah Affonso.

His son, José Afonso de Almada Negreiros, is born on December 11.

Publishes in Lisbon the first issue of Sudoeste magazine, with the subtitle “Cadernos de Almada Negreiros”. The magazine will have three issues.

Upon Fernando Pessoa’s death, on November 30, publishes the article “Fernando Pessoa, o Poeta Português” [Fernando Pessoa, the Portuguese Poet], with a picture of the poet, in the December 6 issue of Diário de Lisboa.

Contributes to the Independent Modern Artists Exposition at Casa Quintão, in Lisbon, showing, among other pieces, Sargaceira [The Gulfweed Gatherer] and Duplo Retrato [Double Portrait]. During the event, delivers the conference Elogio da Ingenuidade ou As Desventuras da Esperteza Saloia [In Praise of Naivety or The Misadventures of Low Cunning] (published in 1939).

Makes two panels and a map for the Historical Exposition of the Occupation, organized by the Estado Novo’s General Agency for the Colonies.

Completes the stained-glass panels for Pardal Monteiro’s Church of Our Lady of Fátima, in Lisbon, a project begun in 1936. It is the first of several collaborations with this architect.

Publishes his novel Nome de Guerra [War Name] with Edições Europa.

Is invited by Eugenio d’Ors, Franco’s General-Director for the Fine Arts, to show his work in the Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, but declines the invitation.

Delivers the conference Desenhos Animados, Realidade Imaginada [Animated Cartoons, Imagined Reality], a text “purposely written at the invitation of Cinema Tivoli for the projection of Walt Disney’s movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. He is interrupted and prevented from continuing by the audience’s boos. 

On December 12, reads a tribute speech (only published in 1972) at a banquet in honour of architect Pardal Monteiro.

His father dies in Paris. 

Starts the fresco decorations for the Diário de Notícias’s headquarters, on Avenida da Liberdade, Lisbon, designed by architect Pardal Monteiro.

Begins rebuilding his house on a small property in Bicesse, Estoril, where he would establish his studio.

Plans two frescoes for the Post Office in Aveiro (destroyed) and a panel for the Post Office at Restauradores square, in Lisbon (also destroyed). 

Concludes the frescoes for the Diário de Notícias headquarters. Does the stained-glass panels for the Colonies’ Pavilion of the Portuguese World Exposition.

Contributes to the 6th Exposition of Modern Art at the SPN, and to the exhibition Some Portuguese Artists, organized by the SPN in Rio de Janeiro.

Holds his sixth solo exhibition, this time at the headquarters of the National Secretariat of Propaganda.

Takes part in the SPN’s 7th Modern Art Exposition, and is awarded the Columbano Prize for the pieces Mulher [Woman] (1939), and Homenagem a Luca Signorelli [Homage to Luca Signorelli] (1942). Participates in the 1st Modern Illustrators Exposition at the SPN headquarters in Porto.

On June 4, his daughter, Ana Paula de Almada Negreiros, is born.

Writes the series of essays Ver [Seeing].

At the invitation of Duarte Pacheco, the minister of Public Works, starts the preparatory studies for the frescoes at the Alcântara Maritime Station, a building designed by architect Pardal Monteiro.

Concludes the Alcântara Maritime Station frescoes. 

Participates in the SPN’s 10th Modern Art Exposition.

Starts the preparatory studies for the frescoes at the Rocha do Conde de Óbidos Maritime Station, in Lisbon, also designed by architect Pardal Monteiro.

Is awarded the Domingos Sequeira Prize.

Participates in the Black Art Exhibition, as part of the Black Art Week organized by Ernesto de Sousa, in collaboration with him and Diogo de Macedo, at the Colonial School in Lisbon.

Designs the ex-libris for the Court of Auditors. Meets Spanish painter Joan Miró, who was passing through Lisbon on his first trip to New York, and shows him the frescoes at the Alcântara Maritime Station.

Makes the stained-glass panels for Fábrica de Fogões Portugal, a metalworking factory on Restauradores square, in Lisbon (destroyed).

Publishes, with a self-portrait, Mito – Alegoria – Símbolo: Monólogo Autodidacta [Myth – Allegory – Symbol: Self-Taught Monologue] at Oficina da Pintura.

Concludes the frescoes at the Rocha do Conde de Óbidos Maritime Station, in Lisbon. Writes the plays O Mito de Psique [The Myth of Psyche] and Aquela Noite — O Meio do Tempo [That Night — The Middle of Time] (only published in 1971).

Designs the façade tile pattern for the building at Rua do Vale do Pereiro, 22, in Lisbon, by architect Porfírio Pardal Monteiro.

On June 17, his play Antes de Começar [Before the Beginning] is performed for the first time at Teatro-Estúdio do Salitre, stage-directed by Fernando Amado, with costume designs by Sarah Affonso.

Draws the self-portrait Auto-Reminiscência [Self-Reminiscence], during a stay in Paris.

Publishes A Chave Diz: Faltam Duas Tábuas e Meia no Todo da Obra de Nuno Gonçalves, o Pintor Português Que Pintou o Altar de S. Vicente na Sé de Lisboa [The Key Says: There are Two and a Half Panels Missing from the Whole of the Work by Nuno Gonçalves, the Portuguese Master Who Painted the St. Vincent Altarpiece at Lisbon Cathedral].

Designs the stain-glass panels for the Church of Santo Condestável, in Campo de Ourique, Lisbon (a project by architect Vasco Regaleira), and the stain-glass panels for the chapel of St. Gabriel at the Marconi Radio Station in Vendas Novas (designed by architect Jorge Segurado). Both works have been destroyed.

Carries out preliminary studies for tile panels and a stained-glass window for a villa on Rua de Alcolena, 28, in Lisbon.

Holds his seventh solo exhibition, at the opening of José-Augusto França’s Galeria de Março, in Lisbon.

Carries out several studies titled Lendo o “Orpheu” [Reading “Orpheu”], the first project for a painting honouring the Orpheu movement, commissioned by the Irmãos Unidos Restaurant at Rossio square, in Lisbon. Ends up painting the famed Retrato de Fernando Pessoa [Portrait of Fernando Pessoa] (oil on canvas). 

Participates in the 1st Abstract Art Salon.

Designs a tile panel for Ática Bookshop in Lisbon.

On May 12, presents the exhibition of Candido Portinari’s twelve illustrations for the 25th anniversary commemorative edition of Ferreira de Castro’s A Selva [The Jungle], at Guimarães Bookshop, in Lisbon.

Draws two mosaic murals for the Bloco das Águas Livres, designed by architects Nuno Teotónio Pereira and Bartolomeu da Costa Cabral. Paints two murals at Escola Secundária Patrício Prazeres, a Lisbon high school.

On June 8, the play Antes de Começar [Before the Beginning] is staged for the second time, at Teatro Nacional D. Maria II. The performers are Lourdes de Castro, who also designed the costumes and the backdrop drawing, and Luís Filipe de Abreu. The set design is by Almada.

Starts the decoration projects for the façades of the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Arts, the Rectory and the General Secretariat of the Lisbon University (also designed by architect Pardal Monteiro). 

Makes the tapestry cards O Número [The Number] and O Contador [The Accountant] for the Court of Auditors, in Lisbon. 

Designs a tapestry card — titled Portugal — for the Lausanne Industrial Exposition (Comptoir Suisse).

Participates in the 1st Plastic Arts Exposition at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, with several geometric paintings: A Porta da Harmonia [The Door of Harmony], O Ponto de Bauhütte [The Bauhütte Point], Quadrante 1 [Quadrant 1] and Relação 9/10 [9/10 Relation].

Paints two oils on canvas for the Court of Auditors, in Lisbon. Draws a tapestry card — Passagem do Rio Lethes [Crossing the River Lethe] — for the Santa Luzia Hotel in Viana do Castelo.

Draws three tapestry cards, studies for engravings and a tile panel for the Ritz Hotel in Lisbon, designed by architect Pardal Monteiro.

Receives the National Prize for the Arts, awarded by the SNI.

Signs a public protest against the nomination of painter Eduardo Malta as the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Publishes the play Deseja-se Mulher [Woman Wanted] (dated ‘Madrid, 1928’).

In the series “Assim Fala Geometria” [Thus He Speaks of Geometry], published by the Diário de Notícias newspaper, divulges his own theory, based on geometric calculations, about the original location of the St. Vincent Panels, a work by 15th-century painter Nuno Gonçalves.

Concludes the incised drawing panels for the façade decorations at the University of Lisbon. Designs a tapestry card intended for the Reading Room of the National Library, architect Pardal Monteiro’s last work. Raul Lino, who becomes the art supervisor after the death of Pardal Monteiro in 1957, orders the substitution of Almada’s card for one by Guilherme Camarinha.

Designs a tapestry card — A Sentença de Salomão [The Judgement of Solomon] — for the Court House of Aveiro.

The first book on his work appears: Almada Negreiros, by José-Augusto França.

His play Deseja-se Mulher [Woman Wanted] premières at Casa da Comédia, stage-directed by Fernando Amado, with set design by Vitor Silva Tavares. The cast includes, among others, Manuela de Freitas, Fernanda Lapa, Santos Manuel, Zita Duarte, Maria do Céu Guerra e Eládio Clímaco.

Makes ten etched engravings on acrylic for Cooperativa Gravura, at the invitation of Júlio Pomar.

Paints a second Portrait of Fernando Pessoa (oil on canvas), commissioned by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Publishes Orpheu 1915-1965 in fold-out form.

His staging of Gil Vicente’s O Auto da Alma [The Play of the Soul] premières at Teatro de São Carlos, performed by Companhia Rey Colaço Robles Monteiro; he also designs sets, costumes, props and feigned stained-glass panels for the show.

Is elected an Honorary Member of the National Academy of Fine Arts.

Is awarded the 1966 Diário de Notícias Prize in Visual Arts.

Estado Novo awards him the Great Officership of the Order of Santiago e Espada.

Carries out the preparatory studies and initial works for the panel Começar [To Begin], a drawing engraved on limestone at the entrance hall of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation headquarters in Lisbon, which is inaugurated the following year.

António de Macedo directs the short film Almada Negreiros, Vivo Hoje [Almada Negreiros, Alive Today].

Ernesto de Sousa starts filming Almada, Um Nome de Guerra [Almada, a War Name], sponsored by Portuguese artists who donate works for auction.

Is interviewed on the first broadcast of Zip-Zip, a television show, by Raul Solnado and Carlos Cruz.

Designs decorations for two walls at the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Coimbra. The project is his, but he can no longer execute it, and the painting work is done by students of the Brotero Technical and Professional School.

In January, attends the auction of his Portrait of Fernando Pessoa, originally commissioned by the Irmãos Unidos Restaurant; the painting is sold for the exceptional amount (by the standards of the time) of thirteen hundred contos.

Dies in Lisbon, at the S. Luís dos Franceses Hospital, on June 15.