Exhibition of paintings by three renowned Portuguese artists from different generations: Amadeo Souza-Cardoso (Amarante, Portugal, 1887-1918), pioneer of Portuguese modernism; Júlio Pomar (Lisbon, Portugal, 1926-2018), who began painting following the route of neorealism, later exploring his own artistic language that did not abandon figuration and remained close to themes of literature, social life and art; and Paula Rego (Lisbon, Portugal, 1935), who explored the paths of new figuration in the 1960s.
Similarly to cooperation given in similar initiatives, the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic requested the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's Modern Art Centre (CAM) to organise cultural activities included in the official visit by the Portuguese President Mário Soares (1924-2017) to Switzerland (Letter from the Presidency of the Republic to José Sommer Ribeiro, 8 Apr. 1988, Gulbenkian Archives, CAM 00140). Cultural relations between the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG) and Switzerland, specifically the organisation of exhibitions for Swiss artists at the FCG's galleries in Lisbon, made this cooperation even deeper (see 8.ª Bienal de Tapeçaria de Lausanne [8th Tapestry Biennale of Lausanne], 1977 and Imagens da Suíça Francesa: Cantão de Vaud. Oito Pintores [Images from French Switzerland: Vaud Canton. Eight Painters], 1982).
Initially, the Portuguese painting exhibition was due to include only Paula Rego and Júlio Pomar, however, the curator and CAM director José Sommer Ribeiro (1924-2006) understood that it would be suitable to include Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, a fundamental painter for understanding the evolution of 20th-century Portuguese painting. These foundations were complemented by Swiss critics' interest in issues of colour and light, and even the exuberance of compositions by Portuguese artists, which is why the previous selection was joined by some pieces by Amadeo (Note by the Modern Art Centre, 6 May 1988, Gulbenkian Archives, CAM 00140).
A set of 19 pieces by these three artists would therefore eventually be exhibited at the Casino de Montbenon. The pieces by Amadeo, which represented his work between 1915 and 1917, belonged to the collection of the CAM now the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum's Modern Collection which loaned them for the event. The remaining pieces by Paula Rego and Júlio Pomar belonged to their collections and to some private collectors, and were all made during the 1980s. Paula Rego's works at the exhibition reflected an exploration of anthropomorphism, intensity of colour and artistic expression approaching that of comics (Opera series). An exploration of colour was also clear in Júlio Pomar's works; literary themes and portraits of writers stand out in them.
In fact, and as presented in the preface to the exhibition catalogue, the common theme of the exhibition was light and colour, identified by the curator as being Portuguese and the fact that the three artists had in common an experience of living abroad (Amadeo and Júlio Pomar in Paris and Paula Rego in London) to further their artistic careers. Sommer Ribeiro called them self-exiles: We believe that the three painters exhibited here that we have called 'self-exiles' have common characteristics: violence of colou rand density of composition (Images du Portugal - 3 Peintres. Souza-Cardoso, Júlio Pomar, Paula Rego, 1988).
The exhibition catalogue, published in French, as well as the preface written by the exhibition curator, also included colour reproductions of the three artists' paintings and biographic information on them, and a list of the works exhibited.
Other actions, as well as the collective exhibition of 20th-century Portuguese painting, included an exhibition of drawings by Jorge Martins (1940) and an exhibition dedicated to the photography of Jorge Molder (1947) (See Jorge Martins. Dessins, 1988 and Jorge Molder. L'Oubli, 1988).