The Quinta de Santiago Museum, in Leça da Palmeira, Matosinhos, marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of António Carneiro with an exhibition in which it will be possible to see dozens of works, documents and objects of the man who was considered the precursor of symbolism in Portugal. The exhibition opens this Saturday and will remain open until February 26
This will be an opportunity to see two versions of one of the most important works by the Amarante painter and poet. The original "Ecce Homo" (1901), now belonging to the Câmara de Matosinhos collection but at the time refused by Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto (which had commissioned it), will appear next to the painting in which the artist added to the figure of Christ the crown of thorns and the green cane and, this time, accepted by the institution. According to a statement issued by the local authority, for the first time the two paintings will be exhibited outside the premises of Misericórdia do Porto.
Other works, such as "Girl of the cat", a portrait of his daughter, Maria Josefina, the multiple self-portraits, João de Deus' charcoal portraits and drawings never exhibited will be highlighted in the exhibition, as well as studies of two other remarkable works, the triptych "The Life" and "Camões reading The Lusiads to the friars of S. Domingos".
Personal objects, letters, photographs, books and brushes also contribute to show António Carneiro's versatility as a poet and as a painter, illustrator, portrait and landscape artist.
Born on 16th September 1872 in S. Gonçalo de Amarante, António Teixeira Carneiro Júnior was abandoned by his father at the age of seven and soon after became motherless. In 1879 he went to live at the Asilo do Barão de Nova Sintra, part of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia do Porto, where he did his early studies and began to draw, copying illustrations from religious texts and periodicals.
It wasn't long before his talent was noticed and he joined the Academia Portuense de Belas Artes at a very young age, in 1884. He was then known as the "Little Monk of Nova Sintra". In 1897, he left for Paris and attended the Julien Academy. On his return to Porto, he was invited to teach at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1911, where he was responsible for the chair of Figure Drawing. It is in this city that the António Carneiro studio is located, on the street with the same name. The building, an integral part of the Oporto City Museum, is closed to the public for refurbishment and is due to reopen at the end of the first quarter of 2023.
His work also includes portraits of companions, intellectuals and artists, such as Teixeira de Pascoaes, Correia de Oliveira, Antero de Quental and Guilhermina Suggia. Religious scenes, family scenes and landscapes, such as the beaches of Leça da Palmeira, where he spent his summer holidays between 1906 and 1915, are other milestones of his painting.
Although most of the works in the exhibition "António Carneiro. The poet with brushes" belongs to the Matosinhos City Hall, other institutions collaborate in the exhibition, such as the Misericórdia Museum of Porto, the Soares dos Reis National Museum, the Grão Vasco National Museum, the National Museum of Contemporary Art of Chiado, the Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso Municipal Museum, the João de Deus Museum and the Marques da Silva Foundation. Porto City Hall, in its turn, provided images of some of the paintings.
The inauguration of the exhibition is scheduled for 5pm this Saturday and will include a musical moment, with the Matosinhos String Quartet playing themes by the composer and violinist Cláudio Carneyro (1895-1963), the artist's eldest son.
Comments