Portuguese painter Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso

This small painting "Beard the guise head," an oil on a card (24.5 X19 cm) Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso painted in 1916 was sold for 122,000 euros (170,000 USD) in an auction of Modern and Contemporary Art in Lisbon. The bid came on the phone. Other renowned Portuguese artists of the twentieth century as Abel Salazar, Graça Morais, Menez, Arpad Szenes, Vieira da Silva, and Cesariny, among others, were also represented.

Amadeo de Souza-Cardozo was born in 1887 and died in 1918. He had no opportunity to see his work recognized. A precursor of modern art died prematurely at age 31. He just knew the incomprehension of others towards his art. At 19 he moved to Paris taking his first contact with Impressionism, then Expressionism and Cubism. He was a friend of Amadeo Modigliani and they shared a studio and hold exhibitions together in 1911. After attending an exhibition in the United States in 1913 he returned to Portugal where he causes a scandal with his exhibitions respectively in Oporto and Lisbon. His painting was criticized, and ridiculed, and, at times, there was even physical confrontation between critics and supporters of modern art.

Much time then passed until the reviews were revised. Now he has a due place in Portuguese painting and world painting history. He was a visionary, who lived outside of time. I like his painting a lot, the colors, the shapes.


If you ever visit Portugal there's a Museum in the place where he was born, in the north, Amarante, Museu Amadeo Souza-Cardoso where you can find some of his paintings. In Lisbon, CAM - Centro de Arte Moderna has a collection of 200 works of Amadeo. Don't miss it if you're an art lover!