José de Almada Negreiros

Letter sent from Paris to the 'Club das Cinco Cores'
1920

Gallery


Object details

Author(s)
José de Almada Negreiros (Cidade da Trindade, São Tomé e Príncipe, 1893 – Lisbon, Portugal, 1970)
Title
Letter sent from Paris to the 'Club das Cinco Cores'
Date
1920
Materials and media
Paper; Aniline dye
Technique
Aniline dye on paper
Dimensions
Height 27,00 cm; Width 21,10 cm
Inventory no.
DP167

Inscriptions

Type
Signature
Description
Almada
Position
Lower margin

Incorporation

Type
Purchased
Provenance
Jorge de Brito
Date
July 1983

Text

This work is without doubt part of the correspondence between Almada and the ‘Five Colors Club’,* a ballet group created in 1918 on the occasion of the creation and performance of O jardim da Pierrette [The garden of Pierrette], written by Almada himself. The club was formed by Almada and four young friends, addressed by nicknames: Tareca (Maria Madalena Morais da Silva Amado), Lalá (Maria Adelaide Burnay Soares Cardoso), Zeca (Maria José Burnay Soares Cardoso) and Tatão (Maria da Conceição de Mello Breyner). This particular letter, from February 28, 1920, is addressed to Tareca, her brother Fernando Amado (also a friend of Almada), Tatão and Lalá, as Zeca had passed away on October 22, 1919.

The performance of O jardim da Pierrette was a decisive moment for the genesis of Almada’s poetics of ingenuity, here related to topics seen as essential to creation such as childhood, imagination and spontaneity. Almada would further develop these themes during his stay in Paris between 1919 and 1920, from where this letter was sent. The drawings identified with the inventory numbers DP168, DP183 and DP184 most probably accompanied this letter.

 

* Other works from the collection of the CAM also belong to this context. See the drawings and letters with inventory numbers DP176, DP243, DP244, DP245, DP246, DP247, DP248, DP249 and DP250.

 

SAF

May 2010

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