Portuguese Surrealist Collection: The Transmission of a Legacy
Painting and sculpture have always fascinated me. From a very young age, I began acquiring, within my means, small paintings and drawings.
Later, I fell in love with Impressionism, but only as a visitor to museums and galleries, both in Portugal and abroad.
Portuguese Surrealist Group
Until, in a gallery in Lisbon, I found a watercolor drawing by Master Cruzeiro Seixas, with whom I would share some moments and to whom I later dedicated one of my bronze pieces. That first encounter was the trigger to start a collection focused solely on Surrealism.
Since resources were never abundant, I decided to collect exclusively Portuguese artists associated with the movement, relying on the support of gallery owners who facilitated phased payments. Thus, over twenty years, accompanied by intense research, I gathered works by surrealist artists, some of whom I myself was unaware of.
This search resulted in a collection of almost eighty artists, some also linked to poetry, which led me to in-depth studies and contacts that enriched my artistic sensibility. The "Hermínio Café Group," which later met at the Café Gelo, led me to the history of the first surrealist exhibition in Portugal, held at the Pathé Baby gallery in Lisbon in 1949.
Mária Cesariny, Cruzeiro Seixas, João Artur da Silva, Pedro Oom, Carlos Eurico da Costa, Mário Henrique Leiria, Henrique Risques Pereira, Fernando José Francisco, joined by many others such as José Escada, António Areal, Jorge Vieira, Isabel Meyreles, João Rodrigues and D´Assunção (Rosiel), gradually integrated the collection like a family reuniting to relive the old gatherings at Café Gelo.
I had the privilege of knowing some of them personally and even being a student in a course on surrealism at the SNBA (National Society of Fine Arts), taught by Eurico. Over time, many have passed away physically, leaving us with their work forever.
Time has also taught me that works of art do not truly belong to heirs, but to art lovers – those who, through their dedication and investment, become guardians of these pieces and ensure their continuity.
Therefore, I felt it was time to make my collection available to new collectors, entrusting them with the responsibility of preserving an artistic movement that was born a century ago and continues to thrive. These new guardians will be the ones who allow Portuguese surrealist artists to continue to "coexist" with each other, as they once did in the Hermínio and Gelo cafés.
Dr. Manuel Fortuna Martins
412 | In-Person - Online | Session 1 - Antiques, Modern and Contemporary Art
412 | In-Person - Online | 2nd Session - Antiques, Modern and Contemporary Art