In an article in the Expresso newspaper, Alexandre Pomar, citing José Sommer Ribeiro, head of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation's Exhibitions and Museography Department, said that: Almada has been rarely seen; there have been only two large exhibitions: one for 30 years of drawing (in 1941) and the other recently taken to Madrid [1983]. People know the studies published but they have not had a chance to see the works (Pomar, Expresso. Actual Cultura. Suplemento, 14 Jul. 1984).
This was one of the reasons that led to the decision to open the exhibition during commemorations of the first year of the Modern Art Centre (CAM). The idea of showing an exhibition of Portuguese artist José de Almada Negreiros (Trindade, S. Tomé e Príncipe, 1893Lisbon, Portugal, 1970) had already been suggested several times but the conditions needed to hold it, had never been met. One such proposal arose in 1971, to be organised by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG) in cooperation with a working group led by José-Augusto França, including José Ernesto de Sousa, Jorge de Sena and Sarah Affonso. Although authorised, the exhibition was never held.
The Almada exhibition would be held 13 years later. It was part of a series of initiatives to commemorate the CAM, which also included the opening of the Children's Art Centre, set up as part of ACARTE, marked by an exhibition, Escrever Comunicar [Writing Communicating], in which several writers and artists took part.
In the catalogue for the Almada Negreiros exhibition, Sommer Ribeiro wrote: this exhibition does not aim to be anything more than a dress rehearsal for the one that shall be held on the centenary of his birth since, as Almada said in the catalogue for II Exposição dos Humoristas Portugueses [Second Exhibition of Portuguese Humourists] in 1913, 'the most memorable date for me will certainly be 1993, when the centenary of my birth will be universally celebrated' (Almada, 1984).
So this dress rehearsal, considered to be a very important initiative by FCG president Azeredo Perdigão (Order of the President, 15 Feb. 1984, Gulbenkian Archives, CAM 00091), aimed to be as complete as possible, bringing together multidisciplinary works by the artist. In total, roughly 400 pieces were exhibited.
The exhibition occupied the two (upper and lower) galleries at the CAM. The management of the CAM argued that a large exhibition should be held at the higher and lower galleries of the CAM, with the latter used to exhibit drawings and other materials sensitive to natural light. The Temporary Exhibition Gallery and the Multipurpose Room were to be used for exhibiting other types of pieces.
José-Augusto França, invited by the exhibition's general curator, argued at the beginning of the project that the exhibition should be held at the Temporary Exhibition Gallery of the Foundation's Main Building so that all of the great exhibition could begin with the central panel Começar and also because the gallery would be able to include historical landmarks in the evolution of the painter's work (Note by the Modern Art Centre, 1 Feb. 1984, Gulbenkian Archives, CAM 00091). The president decided, however, that the exhibition would be held at the CAM, guided by José Sommer Ribeiro. The upper gallery of the CAM therefore housed the paintings and the lower gallery exhibited drawings and graphic material.
One of the areas of the exhibition space (the upper gallery), dedicated to friends of Almada, displayed works by Dórdio Gomes, Santa Rita, Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, Pacheko, Delaunay, Eduardo Viana and Sarah Affonso. Some of the pieces by Almada Negreiros were being exhibited for the first time. The upper floor displayed oil paintings, gouaches, the panels from Madrid, photomontages and mural studies; drawings, the few prints he made, advertising works, book covers and other graphic works were displayed on the lower floor. At the same time, the entrance to the permanent exhibition of the CAM's Portuguese collection was modified to create a connection with the Almada Negreiros exhibition.
Collector Jorge de Brito played a central role in this exhibition, giving the CAM the painting that Almada made in 1925 for the Café A Brasileira in Chiado, and lending around 122 works.
Commissioned by the FCG, a diaporama about the artist was made and presented. Video projections were also included in the proposal for the exhibition, such as the RTP programme Zip-Zip, in which Almada had taken part, and the film O Homem que não sabia escrever, by Eduardo Geada, lent by the Cinemateca Portuguesa. Sommer Ribeiro also asked Radiodifusão Portuguesa for recordings of the national anthem, the anthems of the Portuguese youth organisation Mocidade Portuguesa and Maria da Fonte (the anthem of the people's uprising of 1846) so they could also be played.
A postmark was designed by the Portuguese postal service, Correios de Portugal (CTT), to commemorate the CAM's first birthday, and CTT participated in the Almada exhibition with philatelic materials dedicated to the artist.
While the exhibition was being set up, a need was detected to build a timeline so visitors could better understand the route through the exhibition and some important events in the artist's life. It was placed in the tapestry hall to mark the starting point of the exhibition.
This and other research work was carried out by the CAM's Documentation and Research Department, the support of which was fundamental for carrying out the project. José-Augusto França made himself available to supervise the research work, but the project was eventually guided by Margarida Acciaiuolli, in cooperation with Raquel Henriques da Silva and Helena de Freitas.
As a result of this research, it was possible to bring together pieces distributed among private collectors, documents published in Portuguese and Spanish periodicals that were also dispersed, carry out a survey of the humoristic drawings published in the O Sempre Fixe newspaper, show works that had never previously been exhibited, and even draw up an inventory and restore 1,000 pieces for future exhibitions and publications.
In the document containing the draft estimate for the exhibition plan, Sommer Ribeiro highlighted catalogues, posters, slides, post cards, insurance, assembly, research work and fees as the main areas of investment for the exhibition. He also noted that the catalogue was intended to be a leading publication that could also serve as a sample of the standard the Centre aims to set for its work (Note by the Modern Art Centre, 14 Feb. 1984, Gulbenkian Archives, CAM 00091).
The catalogue was therefore given special attention by researchers and staff, which was reflected in the press' positive reviews.
The extensive research carried out by the Documentation and Research Department resulted in very thorough, much longer texts than foreseen, which led to a change to the initial outline for the catalogue. Foreseeing that it would be expensive (due to the numerous texts and images to be published), it was decided that, as was the case for some exhibitions held at the FCG Temporary Exhibitions Gallery, a short newspaper would be published and sold at an affordable price.
As part of the exhibition, the Department of Artistic Creation and Art Education (ACARTE) held a conference, a multimedia show called Almada, Nome de Guerra ([Almada, Combat Name]) and presented three pieces: Deseja-se Mulher, Antes de Começar and Almada, Dia Claro.
In the end, many articles were written in periodicals containing reviews of the exhibition. Some of these articles highlighted the difficulty in understanding the museum discourse chosen and the limited connections between the works on display.
Nonetheless, despite the reviews, the exhibition was well received by the public and was seen as a surprising phenomenon, the number of visitors to the exhibition (...). Entire families went to the Gulbenkian's Modern Art Centre, leading to an unexpected total of 64,413 people. On the day it closed, 14 October, the CAM recorded the highest number of visitors seen since the day it opened to the public, totalling 2,000 people (A Capital, 29 Dec. 1984).
So, Sommer Ribeiro said: The CAM was born 50 years late and so we had to start at the beginning. But having seen Amadeo and Almada, that doesn't mean we're going to do Viana and then Botelho... That would mean providing a poor service to a generation that deserves to be seen today, such as Lanhas, Pomar, Sá Nogueira, people that the current generation needs to see. The things that will be done may, therefore, seem disorganised, but we must walk together so as not to wait for years (Expresso. Actual Cultura. Suplemento, 14 Jul. 1984).
Once the exhibition was over, the the National Federation of Teachers (FENPROF) suggested that the exhibition travel to the Chanceller's Building at the University of Coimbra. This proposal arose as part of the I Conferência Nacional do Ensino Superior [higher education conference], with the aim of (...) shaking up the cultural stagnation of this area (Letter from the National Federation of Teachers, FENPROF to the president of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 20 Sept. 1984, Gulbenkian Archives, CAM 00091). The proposal was rejected, however, citing difficulties in extending the loans of the private collectors' works, among other reasons (Internal note no. 321/84 of the Modern Art Centre, 15 Oct. 1984, Gulbenkian Archives, CAM 00091).