"Contemporaries of Arpad Szenes and Vieira da Silva in the Berardo Collection "
2002-03-07 until 2002-06-16
Fundacao Arpad Szenes - Vieira da Silva
Lisbon, , PT Portugal

The remarkable Berardo collection gives us a global view of the development of international art in the 20th century. It has its beginnings in early modernism and moves towards more recent contemporary artistic creations. Interestingly, the first acquisition for the Collection was the work by Vieira da Silva, Composition (oil/canvas from 1948).

The choice of this painting done in Paris, after Arpad Szenes and Vieira da Silva had returned from Brazil, was due to the collector's, Comendador José Berardo's, interest in the Paris School, in non-figurative painting and in a new abstraction. This was the beginning of the acquisition of a number of essential works from the French post-war period. Most of the artists from this period had worked with or were acquaintances of Arpad Szenes and Vieira da Silva, the pretext resulting in this exhibition.These artists (such as Soulages, De Stäel, Manessier, Germaine Richier) joined others like Torres-García, Mark Tobey or Dubuffet, for whom both felt a great admiration.

One of the objectives of the Berardo Collection was, from its very start, to be disseminated around the best museums in the world and has now reached the Arpad Szenes – Vieira da Silva Foundation. The Berardo Collection is once again being shared. The collector was extremely enthusiastic with this initiative, one endowed with total freedom of choice in the selection of the works. The exhibition shows a total of 31 works (painting, sculpture and photography) by 21 artists.

Related Links:

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Other Important Exhibitions in Portugal