Settling in Lisbon in the 1920s, Lino António captured the changes in city life, with some works representing shifting behaviour. The cafés, nightclubs, cinemas and different urban customs that could be experienced also gained prominence and opened new spaces for some women.

 

In this painting, there are two female figures with the audacious garçonne haircut and style of dress that were in vogue in the twenties, allowing greater freedom and exposing more of the body. Seated at a table, in a scene conveying a certain comfort and sense of the tropics suggested by the palms, their faces contrast with the atmosphere; they are not really displaying any joie de vivre, but instead recall two mannequins confiding in one another. These are two women who, by their scant individual characterisation, could be one and the same, reflecting, reflected. Plant life dominates the lower left corner, clothing the woman and approximating the still-life found on the table, highlighting the ephemeral, in a recurring modernist citation. A contrasting pochette is the stylish accessory that completes the composition and meaning.

 

The primacy of the surface and play of essential lines gain force in this painting, which barely touches on volume and instead delights in the two dimensionality which it owns and commands. The contrast between cool and warm colours is softened by the wealth of shades, with oranges prevailing in the mixture and lighting up, albeit serenely, a large part of the surface: formal synthesis, a balanced composition and little adornment, in a sophisticated abbreviation.

 

 

Sandra Leandro

March 2013