Portugal de Hoje. Secção de Artes Plásticas

The exhibition Portugal de Hoje was a large show that took place in the Pavilion of Portugal, which was the guest country in the participation of the celebrations of the fourth centenary of Rio de Janeiro. The Pavilion of Portugal was divided into three sections, preceded by a small centre of "Introdução Histórica” (Historical Introduction) and followed by stores, restaurants and bars. The sections were as follows: "Grande Nave" (Great main hall) (where the Public Works, Agriculture, Commerce and Industry were represented), "Fé e Cultura" (Faith and culture) and "O Homem e a Terra" (Man and the Earth).

The "Fé e Cultura" section included an area dedicated to the fine arts, divided into two sectors: a permanent exhibition of contemporary art and an exhibition of universal masterpieces kept within the Portuguese territory. The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG) was approached by Henrique Martins de Carvalho, commissioner of the Exhibition of Portugal, to organise these two sectors, as it was the most suitable institution when it came to dealing with the "challenges of packaging, safe-keeping and fire protection" (General Meeting, 10 Aug. 1965, Gulbenkian Archives, SBA 15346)

The organisation of the twosectors that formed the Fine Arts section is widely documented.

Early on, FCG decided to organise a centre dedicated to the contemporary artistic production (artists aged under 30 years), in order not to overlap with the exhibition Arte Portuguesa 1850-1950 [Portuguese Art 1850-1950], also organised for the celebrations of the fourth centenary of Rio de Janeiro, which took place in the Museu Nacional de Belas-Artes of the city. While taking advantage of this situation, and to fill the lack of young artists represented in its collection – the few artworks from emergent artists belonging to the FCG collection were in the Calouste Gulbenkian Paris Branch, the Centre Culturel Portugais (Note by the Fine Arts Department, 10th Aug. 1965, Gulbenkian Archives, SBA 15346) – the Fine Arts Department suggested that the FCG should acquire various artworks that came to represent a "youthful and important set of works of contemporary Portuguese painting, engraving, ceramics, drawing, tapestry and sculpture" (O Globo, 10 Nov. 1965).

As for the documental section, called "Photographic Documentation of the Museums”, it was made up of a set of photos from museums and artworks from Portuguese collections, commissioned to the photographer Mário de Oliveira (Note by  the Fine Arts Department, 6 Aug. 1965, Gulbenkian Archives, SBA, 15346), featuring the following institutions: Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (Lisbon), Museu Nacional de Soares dos Reis (Porto), Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea (Lisbon), Museu Militar (Lisbon), Museu de Marinha (Lisbon), Fundação Ricardo Espírito Santo (Lisbon), Museu Etnológico Dr. Leite de Vasconcelos (Lisbon), Casa dos Patudos (Alpiarça), Museu de Arte Popular (Lisbon), Museu Machado de Castro (Coimbra), Museu Monográfico de Conímbriga, Museu do Caramulo, Museu Regional de Aveiro, Museu Grão Vasco (Viseu), Museu Regional de Lamego, Museu Alberto Sampaio (Guimarães), Museu Abade de Baçal (Braga), Museu de Arte Religiosa da Sé de Braga, Museu Regional de Évora and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian (Palácio Marquês de Pombal – Oeiras).

The responsibility of building the hall for the cultural section “Artes Plásticas e Exposição Documental”, was given to the Portuguese architect Frederico George (1915-1994), while working for the General Commissariat of the Portugal Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro; the museography was assured by Américo Silva, Fernando de Azevedo and José Sommer Ribeiro (of the Works and Projects Department from the FCG), who were given 250 m² for this purpose. Américo Silva reports on how the exhibition was put together:

"The panels were fixated from the ground to the ceiling, between two metallic support rails (...), the paintings were placed in these panels.

The only fully closed wall, which was covered in wood, held the panels with photographs of exhibition views. The whitewashed masonry walls were also used for displaying paintings.

All artworks exposed benefit from large spaces and perspectives. (...)” (Report of assembly, 1965)

After the conclusion of the event, the Administrative Board of the FCG was requested to loan to the Embassy of Portugal in Rio de Janeiro this "excellent collection of photographs of Portuguese Museums, (...) with the intention of organizing an itinerant exhibition through the cultural centres of Brazil", there is also information that the request has been accepted (Letter from the Ambassador to the Administrative Board of the FCG, 14 Jul. 1966, Gulbenkian Archives, SBA 15346)