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 drawing most probably accompanied a letter (inv. DP167) from February 28, 1920, addressed to Tareca, her brother Fernando Armado (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, where this drawing was made. The drawings identified with the inventory numbers DP168 and DP183 probably also 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