This exhibition of Pepe Diniz’s (1945) photographic portraits showed great world figures from the art scene namely from cinema, painting, sculpture and theatre, as well as from other cultural and artistic fields.

 The exhibition came up from a proposal from Pepe Diniz himself to the The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG).   Initially, he suggested exhibiting 40 photographs of international individuals from different artistic areas. In addition to these, the artist committed himself to photograph 15 Portuguese artists during his stay in Lisbon.  These artists should be invited and selected by the FCG and their portraits would be included in the exhibition.

The production of these portraits was agreed between the photographer and FCG’s Exhibitions and Museography Department: the FCG would ensure Pepe Diniz’s travel expenses to Portugal (New York/Lisbon/New York) and in exchange, the artist guaranteed not only a set of 15 portraits of Portuguese artists, but also its production costs (Gulbenkian Archives, SEM 00168).

From an initial list of 24 national individualities, only 16 would be selected: Abel Manta (1888-1982), Carlos Botelho (1899-1982), Maria Clementina Carneiro de Moura (1898-1992), Sarah Affonso (1899-1983), Hein Semke (1899-1985), Barata Feyo (1899-1990), Júlio (1902-1983), Tomaz de Mello (1906-1990), António Duarte (1912-1998), João Fragoso (1913-2000), Guilherme Camarinha (1912-1994), Luís Dourdil (1914-1989), Júlio Resende (1917-2011), Cruzeiro Seixas (1920), Martins Correia (1910-1999) and Joaquim Correia (1920-2013).

Thus far, the exhibition included a total of 56 photographs of international individualities and of Portuguese artists.

Within the scope of the exhibition, the FCG acquired the 16 portraits of Portuguese artists (with the purpose of including them in the artists’ portfolios of the future Modern Art Centre (CAM)), as well as 10 of the 40 photographs of international artists, which would also enrich the photographic collection of the Modern Art Centre (CAM) (Gulbenkian Archives, SEM 00168).

Born in Tangiers, son of a Romanian mother and an Indo-Portuguese father, Pepe Diniz stands out for his notable international pathway, having lived in Mozambique, South Africa, Switzerland, France and lately in the United States of America. Even though he has never lived in Portugal permanently, the photographer recognises his iberian ancestry, having dedicated part of his meaningful work to the city of Lisbon.