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On May 9th, 1912, the 1st Hall of Portuguese
Humorists was inaugurated, an important moment in the history of
nineteenth-century Portuguese art and culture.
The exhibition was held in
Chiado, Lisbon, where the Grémio Literário (Literary Guild) opened its doors to
welcome the works of twenty-eight artists.
Surprisingly, it was visited by
Manuel de Arriaga, president of the young Republic, echoing in the press of the
time, who tried to purchase a work from each of the exhibitors.
The event
resulted from the efforts of the Society of Portuguese Humorists, formed a year
ago under the flagship presidency of Manuel Gustavo Bordalo Pinheiro, son and
successor of the noted artist Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, already deceased,
honoured with eighteen of his lithographs at the entrance of the Hall.
Two
other artists were also posthumously remembered: Francisco Teixeira and the more
prominent Celso Herminio.
But the presence of the master Rafael Bordalo
fulfilled another sense, serving as “a deposit” to this entire generation of
“Bordalianos” and especially to the new modernist humorists.
Some and others
presented more than three hundred works, including engravings, sketches, covers
for publications, decorative friezes, statues, relief plaques and even masks,
accumulated in three rooms of the Guild and listed in a modest edited
catalogue.
Among the heirs of the “Bordaliano” taste, the son Manuel Gustavo,
Alonso (pen name of Joaquim Guilherme Santos Silva) stood out, as did Francisco
Valença, which prolonged the nineteenth-century trait.
But it was the work of
the young ones that marked this event in the Portuguese art.
The proposal of
the young artists sought to counter the exhausted subject of politics, an
accurate social commentary, accomplished through a synthetical stroke of figure
and context, more current.
There was a host of new ones, like Américo Amarelhe,
cartoonist of the theatrical world, of the military milieu, such as the
official Menezes Ferreira, the urban joke by Sanches de Castro, the kermesse
figures of the emigrated Emmerico Nunes (sent from Munich) and the popular
laughter of Stuart Carvalhais (in Paris).
Thus, the elegance of Jorge Barradas
design, the boulevard figurines in clay, from Canto da Maia, were distinguished
by the critics and most important, in equal footing, the exemplary modern
artists Cristiano Cruz and Almada Negreiros.
Great absences were noted, such as
Leal da Camara’s (with an exhibition being held at the same time in the
capital), Luis Filipe and Correia Dias.
After one hundred years, to mark this
event, twelve artists were selected, representing the two streams of artistic
confrontation and, for the first time, we tried to find the pieces exhibited at
the time, to serve as an illustration for the stamp dedicated to each author.
Although mostly successful, it was mandatory to open an exception for Emmerico
(the only one to exceed the chronological limit of 1912), Manuel Gustavo, Celso
and Barradas due to unsuccess in the search.
The humour now achieved, mainly
through details of the works of the artists, did justice to the effort
reflected in the Hall. Despite the enormous success, society’s taste has not
changed, continuing to please the “Bordaliano” style.
Modernity, understood
only by some, would later reach the public, cultural and mentally unprepared...
Technical Details
Date of Issue: 16 October 2012
Values: stamps of 0,32€, 0,47€, 0,68€ and 0,80€
Special sheet: with two sets
Designer: Atelier B2
Photos:
Credits:
Ackowledgements:
Printer: Joh. Enschedé
Process: Offset 4 Colors
Size: 30,6 x 40,0 mm
Size special sheet: 110 x 185 mm
Perforation: Cross of Christ 13 x 13
Paper: FSC 110 g./m2
Watermark:
Sheet: with 50 stamps
