Histories of a Collection

In Ripple we find the truly revolutionary nature of British sculpture in the 1960s. Its acquisition, in 1964, for the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s collection of contemporary British art, was recommended to the British Council by Alan Bowness and Roland Penrose. The work had been exhibited the previous year at the 3rd Paris Biennale, which became famous for presenting, with great success, what was then brand-new British art in the French capital.

This new character of sculpture, from the change led by Anthony Caro in the previous decade, was related to the rejection of the materials and processes of modern sculpture – wood, stone and bronze, moulding and direct sculpting – and assumed a different approach to sculptural work and the meaning of sculpture itself. This abandoned any discourse of moral order and distanced itself from feelings of reverence or devotion, as well as any descriptive tendency, in the same way that it was uninterested in the much sought-after ‘truth to materials’.

Born in Tunis to a French mother, Phillip King lived in Paris, where he studied Greek sculpture at the Louvre and corresponded with Albert Camus.

He also read modern languages at the University of Cambridge, before he became a student of Caro, from 1957 to 1958, and assistant to Henry Moore the following year. Like Caro himself and various sculptors of his generation, King rejected bronze and was also uninterested in collage, which constituted the main process of Caro’s new sculpture. As an artist and teacher, Caro was an important source of inspiration and training. His innovative proposals – introducing colour to sculptures and placing them directly on the ground, dispensing with the use of bases and plinths which separated them from the observer – were widely developed and transformed by the generations of sculptors who followed him.

Distancing himself from Caro, King sought a new sculptural expression. The idea of sculpture as a plane which is developed in space, and is materially constructed, seemed to him more important than sculpture’s relationship with the ground, which presupposed its classical concept, that is, with a certain fixed volume. This notion is fundamental for us to understand the forms he created. Another key feature of his creative process during this initial period is the inspiration he took from the paper cut-outs of Matisse, as if his sculpture were, in some way,

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a three-dimensional version of these.1 King was very interested in painting, saying that, at the time, painting was the main topic of conversation among sculptors. His understanding of colour endowed the created objects with a truly original character, which had never previously been seen in sculpture.2 He also found, in the use of plastic and fibreglass, the ideal materials to satisfy his interests. Plastic’s ‘lack of character’, in the words of the artist, made this material the perfect support for colour, enabling the creation of a very smooth and uniform surface, with an entirely artificial presence.

The colour also lent lightness and humour to the forms, characteristics which are particularly visible in Ripple. As the title itself indicates, the sculpture proposes an undulation of surreal anthropomorphic characteristics, reinforced by the suggestive colour. The sculpture gains dynamism and seems to come out of the ground, or go into it, through a kind of blue ring which constitutes its small foundation. There is a proposed imbalance in this work which interacts powerfully with the space itself and the body of the observer.

Ana Vasconcelos

1 Daniel Abadie, ‘Entretien avec Phillip King’, in François Bonnefoy, et al. (eds.), Un siècle de sculpture anglaise. Paris: Éditions du Jeu de Paume/Réunion des musées nationaux, 1996, p. 242.

2

Ibidem, p. 213.

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Phillip King (1934–2021) Ripple, 1963 Plastic 188 × 89 × 77 cm Inv. EE26 Acquired from Rowan Gallery, London, 1964

This painting by Almada Negreiros is a mirror replica of another one he made ten years earlier. In the canvas, we see the figure of Fernando Pessoa sitting at the café table where he used to work. On the table are the two published issues of Orpheu magazine, to which he was one of the main contributors, along with Mário de Sá-Carneiro.

In 1954, commissioned by the owner of ‘Irmãos Unidos’ restaurant, in Rossio square in Lisbon, Almada Negreiros had painted a first version of this work. The restaurant was the meeting place for the group from Orpheu magazine and its owner intended to add a painting to the plaque commemorating the group, of which his brother Alfredo Pedro Guisado was part. The commission did not specify that the work had to represent the poet Fernando Pessoa and Almada got as far as sketching another work, which he was unable to produce with the budget available. Pessoa was already part of the iconography employed by Almada, who had drawn him in a more naturalist way in 1913, and again in 1935, on his death (portrait of bust published in Diário de Lisboa), and also in a work produced between 1957 and 1961, along with his heteronyms, for the façade of the School of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon.

Pessoa appears again in this large commemorative painting, and, in the corner of the table that catches the light, with the poet gazing towards them, we see the two volumes of the magazine published in March and June 1915, with the graphically appealing digit ‘2’ facing the observer. The cover is thought to have been designed by Santa-Rita Pintor, who had four hors-texte drawings published in this issue.

After Almada Negreiros was awarded the hors concours prize in the I Exposição de Artes Plásticas [1st Exhibition of Visual Arts] of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG), in 1957, the Foundation sought to acquire the 1954 painting.

However, after failure to reach an agreement on the sum to be paid, a decision was made to commission a replica from Almada, to which the artist responded with a second, symmetrical version of the first. His study, starting in 1916 and continuing throughout his life, of the São Vicente de Fora panels, held at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga – for which he proposed the current arrangement officially adopted in 1940 – may have inspired the reversed image of the

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figure of Pessoa, similar to the dual figuration, also reversed, of the character in the two central panels (thought to be St Vincent).

Despite the identical iconographic representation of Pessoa in both paintings, there are significant differences in terms of composition and colour. Both paintings are kept in collections in Lisbon – the 1954 version belongs to the City Council’s collection and can currently be seen on permanent display at Casa Fernando Pessoa – but were only seen side by side once, in 2017, in the same gallery in which this exhibition is now being held, in a show organised by the FCG on the work of Almada Negreiros.

In both paintings, neither of which is naturalist in style, the ‘Pessoa and table’ group is the central, magnified element in the composition. The background, however, composed of a wall and tiled floor, is essentially a geometric abstract composition. Perhaps more emphatically in the 1964 painting, this picks up Almada’s research on the relationships between the circumference and the square underlying the ‘golden ratio’ and ‘9/10 relation’. This research was latent in the 1954 painting and also gave rise to the abstract paintings of 1957, which were included in the Collection only in 1983 – also presented in this exhibition – and the relief panel Começar [To Begin], a prominent feature of the foyer of the FCG’s Main Building.

This painting was exhibited for the first time in the FCG Library on the occasion of the opening of the group of buildings that combined the Main Building and the Gulbenkian Museum in October 1969.

Ana Vasconcelos

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José de Almada Negreiros (1893–1970) Retrato de Fernando Pessoa [Portrait of Fernando Pessoa], 1964 Oil on canvas 225 × 226 cm Inv. 64P66 Commissioned from the artist, 1964

Photograph of the crates with the works of art for the exhibition Arte Portuguesa – Pintura e Escultura do Naturalismo aos Nossos Dias [Portuguese Art − Painting and Sculpture from Naturalism to Today], Brussels, 1967. Gulbenkian Archives, SBA 15365_8.4

Arte Portuguesa – Pintura e Escultura do Naturalismo aos Nossos Dias, Brussels, Paris and Madrid

The exhibition Arte Portuguesa – Pintura e Escultura do Naturalismo aos Nossos Dias [Portuguese Art − Painting and Sculpture from Naturalism to Today], curated by Fernando de Azevedo,27 took place in Brussels, Paris and Madrid, the fruit of a collaboration between the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the National Secretariat for Information (SNI). In Brussels, the exhibition was overseen by the Belgian association Les Amis du Portugal, whose president, Emile Langui, was director-general of Arts and Letters at the Belgian Ministry of National Education and Culture.

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The exhibition featured 117 works by 64 artists from the collections of the Gulbenkian Foundation and the SNI, as well as the Museu Nacional de Arte Contemporânea, the Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis, the Museu Municipal de Lisboa and the Musée d’art moderne in Paris, in addition to private collections.

In the organisation of this exhibition, the Foundation’s collection of contemporary art was considered to be ‘one of the best, if not the best, in the country’.28 Reviewing gaps in the Collection and focusing on the provision of support to artists, the proposal for the acquisition of nine works29 outlined four important policies: the reaffirmation of direct support to Portuguese artists, especially younger artists; the filling of gaps in the Collection; the promotion of the Collection at various events and in travelling exhibitions; and the gradual construction of a gallery of Portuguese contemporary art.30

Aquisições da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian em Paris, Lisbon

Instead of an exhibition dedicated to Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, which the Foundation planned but did not manage to carry out, between 16 and 30 April 1969 the Foundation organised the last exhibition in the temporary gallery with its entrance in Rua Marquês Sá da Bandeira – before it was demolished –

View of the exhibition Aquisições da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian em Paris [Acquisitions by the Calouste Gulbenkain Foundation in Paris], Temporary Gallery of the FCG, April 1969. Gulbenkian Archives, I04-041-006

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Initially, three schemes for the construction of the new buildings were presented. In the programme that was developed,16 the proposed construction of the building in the south of the park enabled the new exhibition gallery to open onto the garden, providing continuity between the main gallery and the open-air sculpture museum. The existing outdoor amphitheatre took on new significance due to its position in relation to the new buildings.

CAM’s main entrance was via Rua Nicolau de Bettencourt and led directly into a large hall, which contained the reception, a space for a bookshop, a restaurant and an exit onto the Foundation’s garden. The hall had a central position, allowing for the articulation of the two main sections of the building: the exhibition galleries and the department of cultural activities and documentation. Thus, it guaranteed the physical separation of the two spaces.

The proposed building consisted of three floors, covering an area of 14,700 m2. The exhibition galleries occupied the largest and most important spaces, corresponding to a quarter of the total construction area, and were divided into three interconnected but well-defined spaces: the main floor, on the same level as the garden – which occupied approximately 1,800 m2 – the upper floor and the lower floor – each with 800 m2 of exhibiting space. The visitor would be able to see each space one after the other and, at the same

Construction of the CAM building, 1983. Gulbenkian Archives, K05-108-112

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Installation of CAM’s inaugural exhibition and press conference, July 1983. Gulbenkian Archives, PRES 02068

time, compare the different exhibitions on different floors. It was proposed that the movement between the galleries be direct and simple. The east-west orientation of this part of the building enabled the main façade, facing north, to maintain a direct relationship with the park, reinforced by the large windows that allowed for a visual connection between the main gallery and the garden.

This proposal had its origins in an innovative concept, involving the construction of a structure on a large scale, similar to a hangar. The roof, supported above huge openings – along the whole length of the main gallery – reduced the number of pillars on floor level to a minimum. This type of construction would provide the visitor with a panorama of the whole of the exhibition space. The design of the roof was also innovative, consisting of a series of glass steps that spanned the whole gallery and allowed natural light to enter from the north. The illumination of this large structure was complemented by the placement of projectors in different technical galleries constructed at ceiling height, which enabled the free distribution of artworks throughout the exhibition space.

The areas for administrative services were located near the main entrance, in a central position between the two main sections. The two underground levels contained the technical areas and reserves, seen by Sommer Ribeiro himself as areas of ‘vital importance’17 in a museum which intended to keep up to date and grow constantly. The reserves were divided into three distinct areas: reserves accessible to the public (intended to be an extension of

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Ernesto de Sousa (1921–1988) and Jorge Peixinho (1940–1995), Luiz Vaz 73, 1975–76. Mixed-media with 4 video projections, electronic music on magnetic storage medium, live musical improvisation, c. 150'; b&w and coloured slides and content of magnetic tapes transferred onto digital support, handwritten musical scores. Inv. 19E1908. Acquired from the heirs of the artists, 2019 Exhibition Anos 70 – Atravessar Fronteiras [The 70s – Crossing Borders], CAM, Multipurpose Room, 2009

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Portuguese and foreign artists. The Austrian artist Heimo Zobernig joined the Collection with an extensive installation, Untitled, 2007–08 (inv. EE72), which included pieces from the Collection, reflecting and integrating the architecture of the CAM building, particularly the main gallery. The exhibition Anos 70 – Atravessar Fronteiras, held in conjunction with the former Fine Arts Department, was devoted to the Portuguese art scene of that decade, which ‘achieved extraordinary internal diversification, with high levels of experimentation’.8 The exhibition highlighted pieces from lesser seen or known work – as was the case with paintings and collages on cut-out hardboard by Teresa Magalhães, between 1971 and 1972, which functioned as a cosmopolitan experience, emancipated from the strict dictates and conventions of the Portuguese dictatorship. Another area of focus was a re-presentation of historical installations by their creators – as was the case with Alberto Carneiro (São Mamede, 1937–Porto, 2017) with the work Árvore Jogo Lúdico em Sete Imagens Espelhadas [Tree Game / Playful in Seven Mirror Images], 1974–2009 (inv. 09E1597), and Rui Orfão with the installation-performance Memória das Imagens Ausentes [Memory of Absent Images], 1979–2009 (inv. 09E1598), both semi-ephemeral. The acquisition of these works served to enhance the artist sections of Teresa Magalhães and Alberto Carneiro, with works that were emblematic of a markedly axial production in their careers, but also to identify artists missing from the Collection, as was the case with Rui Orfão, who joined it with a work representative of his artistic activity in the late 1970s and 1980s inscribed in the history of performance in Portugal.

Also worthy of highlight in this exhibition was the re-enactment of the mixed-media installation Luiz Vaz 73, 1975–76 (inv. 19E1908), which brought together in a multidisciplinary project the artists Ernesto de Sousa (visual structure) and Jorge Peixinho (electronic music), with live instrumental improvisation. Originally presented in Ghent, in 1975, and in Coimbra, in the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha, and Lisbon, in the Galeria Belém, in 1976 – the latter with the collaboration of visual artist Fernando Calhau – the piece was shown again in CAM’s Multipurpose Room in November 2009, following the scheme from 1976 in Lisbon, which confirmed the possibility of reconstructing and preserving it for future generations (in a scenario in which its authors were no longer there). However, the work would only be acquired for the Collection in 2019.

Finally, and still in the context of programming carried out by the previous director, in 2010 the exhibition Res Publica was presented, giving rise to the inclusion of a work by British artist Susan Philipsz – Turner Prize 2010 – a sound installation conceived for the gardens of the FCG, entitled Woods so Wild (inv. EE78). The proposal and subsequent order that formalised the acquisition of the work stated and confirmed one of the guidelines for the integration of pieces by international artists: that it should be the result of and a reminder of exhibition programming. Bearing in mind the historical section of works by British artists, the acquisition of this work was also justified by the need to ‘give continuity to CAM’s British Collection’.9 The inclusion of works by artists such as Fernanda Fragateiro, Ângela Ferreira, Ana Jotta and Luisa Cunha also marks the start of this new cycle of acquisitions: artists with little – or no – representation in the Collection and works which predominantly featured sculpture, installation or artistic

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António Palolo (1946–2000) Hórrido Silêncio do Teu Corpo [Horrid Silence of Your Body], 1966 Oil on hardboard 109.5 × 82 cm Inv. 67P295 Acquired from SNBA, Lisbon, 1967

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Alan Davie (1920–2014) Smoke Signals no. 1, 1960 Oil on canvas 183 × 152.5 cm Inv. PE244 Acquired from Gimpel Fils Gallery, London, 1960

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Fernando de Azevedo (1923–2002) Untitled (Ocultação) [Concealment], 1950–51 Indian ink on printed image 30 × 22.8 cm Inv. DP442 Acquired from the artist, 1985

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Fernando de Azevedo (1923–2002) Untitled (Ocultação) [Concealment], 1950–51 Indian ink on printed image 22.5 × 29.4 cm Inv. DP441 Acquired from the artist, 1985

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Fernando Calhau (1948–2002) Espaço Verde [Green Space], 1974 Acrylic paint on canvas 145 × 145 cm Inv. 80P473 Acquired from the artist, 1980

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João Vieira (1934–2009) Uma Rosa É [A Rose Is], 1968 Oil on canvas 200 × 161 cm Inv. 80P536 Acquired from Nuno de Siqueira, 1980

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Noé Sendas (1972) The Rest is Silence II, 2003 Shoes, poliester, mirror, wooden chair, garment and resin 140 × 90 × 200 cm Inv. 04E1255 Acquired from Galeria Cristina Guerra, Lisbon, 1994

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Graça Morais (1948) Geografias do Sagrado [Geographies of the Sacred], 1998 Pastel and charcoal on canvas 114 × 146 cm Inv. 99P675 Acquired from Galeria 111, Lisbon, 1999

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João Queiroz (1957) Untitled, 2005–06 Oil on canvas 190 × 250 cm Inv. 06P1384 Acquired from Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon and Porto, 2006

Joana Vasconcelos (1971) Bunis (Red, Blue, Golden, Purple and Yellow), 1994–2020 Acrylic enamel on glass fibre Variable dimensions Unique edition + PA Inv. 20E1929 Acquired from the artist, 2020

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