This edition explores the relationship between Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso (1887-1918), Sonia (1885-1979) and Robert Delaunay (1885-1941) based on a selection of the correspondence between the three artists published by Paulo Ferreira in 1972: Correspondance de quatre artistes portugais, Almada-Negreiros, José Pacheco, Souza-Cardozo, Eduardo Vianna avec Robert et Sonia Delaunay (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France).

Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris has several copies of this correspondence in its collection. We were able to confirm the transcription of most of the letters that Amadeo addressed to his artist friends, including one written by the artist’s father, José Emygdio de Souza Cardoso. In this catalogue we have also reproduced one of Robert Delaunay’s letters to Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, the only one that Paulo Ferreira included in his book; all the others have not yet been found.

The catalogue also features images of all the works on display, 17 by Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, five by Sonia and six by Robert Delaunay. The curatorial text by Helena de Freitas and Angela Lampe is also a correspondence between the two curators and introduces the meeting of work that was developed by both in Paris, precisely around the idea of sharing and the relationship created between the two collections: CAM – Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian and Centre Pompidou.

Sophie Goetzmann, head of research at the Centre Pompidou, and Marta Soares, researcher at the Art History Institute of NOVA University Lisbon, and independent curator, develop two new approaches and explore a fresh critical look at the artists and this international moment of the avant-garde. The essay by Ana Vasconcelos, curator of CAM/Responsible for Painting, explores the relationship between Amadeo, Sonia and Robert Delaunay, but also the artistic relationship with Eduardo Viana during the Delaunay couple’s stay in Portugal.

Edition published as part of the exhibition Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, Sonia and Robert Delaunay – Correspondence, at Centre Pompidou in Paris, from 3 April to 9 September 2024.