ALMADA NEGREIROS

1893-1970

Almada Negreiros

      Auto-retrato, grafite sobre papel, 1926 (pormenor)




1893

José Sobral de Almada Negreiros is born in S. Tomé on the 7th of April.

1896

His mother dies. 

1900

Sent to a Jessuit boarding school in Lisbon.

1912

Participates in the I Salão dos Humoristas Portugueses. 

1913

Participates in the II Salão dos Humoristas Portugueses and holds his first solo exhibition, of drawings, at the Escola Internacional de Lisboa.

1914

Publishes his first poem, Silêncios, in Portugal Artístico 2.

1915

Publishes the poem Frisos in Orpheu 1.
Writes A Cena do Ódio for Orpheu 3, an unpublished issue.

1916

Publishes in leaflet form the Manifesto Anti-Dantas , the manifesto Exposição de Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso and the poem Litoral.

 1917

Publishes in leaflet form K4 O Quadrado Azul, in which Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso collaborates as a visual artist, and the novel A Engomadeira.

Organises, with Santa Rita Pintor, a Futuristic Conference at the Teatro República in Lisbon, where he recites the Ultimatum Futurista às Gerações Portuguesas do Século XX.
Publishes, in the sole number of the magazine Portugal Futurista, as well as the 1.ª Conferência Futurista, the poem Mima-Fataxa.Sinfonia Cosmopolita and Apologia do Triângulo Feminino, and also, in prose, Saltimbancos (Contrastes Simultâneos).
His interest in the S. Vicente polyptych begins to take shape.

 1918

Influenced by the performances of the Ballets Russes in Lisbon (1917 e 1918), he participates in the creation of ballets danced by amateurs and children: Lalá, Tareca, Zeca and Tatão, with whom he founds the "Club das Cinco Cores", Club of the Five Colours.
Choreographs the ballets A Princesa dos Sapatos de Ferro (in which he also dances)and O Jardim de Pierrette.

 1919

Lives in Paris. Maintains a close epistolary contact with the "Club das Cinco Cores".

 1920

Returning to Lisbon, he holds his third solo exhibition, in the Salão Nobre (Grand Hall) of the Teatro S. Carlos.
Throughout the 1920s he collaborates, with articles, short stories and drawings with the magazines ContemporâneaAthena and Presença, e newspapers such as Diário de Lisboa and Sempre Fixe.

 1921

Participates as actor in the film O Condenado. Holds, and publishes, the conference A Invenção do Dia Claro.

 1922

Begins his collaboration with the magazine Contemporânea with Histoire du Portugal par Coeur, dated Paris, 1919.

 1924

Publishes Pierrot e Arlequim.

 1925

Begins to write Nome de Guerra (published in 1938).
Paints Autorretrato num Grupo (shown at the I Salão de Outono) and Banhistas, for the Brasileira do Chiado.

 1926

Paints a Nu Feminino (shown at the II Salão de Outono) for the Bristol Club.

Holds, and publishes, the conference Modernismo.
Publishes A Questão dos Painéis.

 1927

Starts a five-year stay in Madrid, where he actively participates in the city’s literary and artistic scene.
Shows individually at the Unión Ibero-Americana where he holds the conference El Dibujo.
Collaborates frequently with Ramón Gómez de la Serna, illustrating this author’s books.

 1931

Writes Luís o Poeta Salva a Nado o Poema, published in the Diário de Lisboa on the 28th of December. 

 1932

Returns to Lisbon where he holds, and publishes, the conference Direcção Única. 

 1933

Holds the conferences Arte e Artistas and Embaixadores Desconhecidos and has his fifth solo exhibition, at the Galeria UP. 

 1934

Marries the painter Sarah Afonso, with whom he will have two children. 

 1935

Launches a magazine, Sudoeste, in which he is the only author of all the articles that comprise the first two issues, as well as of the poem As Quatro Manhãs published in the third issue.
Publishes an article dedicated to the memory of Fernando Pessoa, accompanied by a drawing, in Diário de Lisboa

 1936

Holds the conference Elogio da Ingenuidade ou as Desventuras da Esperteza Saloia. 

 1937

Publishes two poems in Diário de LisboaEncontro and A Torre de Marfim não é de Cristal. 

 1938

Publishes Nome de Guerra, a novel written in 1925. 

Holds, and publishes, the conference Desenhos Animados, Realidade Imaginada, about Walt Disney.
Finishes the stained glass windows of the Church of N. Sr.ª de Fátima.

 1940

Designs scenarios for the great Exposição do Mundo Português.
Completes the frescoes for the Diário de Notícias building, in Lisbon, and the Post Office building in Aveiro. 

 1941

Holds a solo exhibition, Trinta Anos de Desenho (1911-1941, sponsored by the Secretariado de Propaganda Nacional, 

 1944

Holds the conference Descobri a Personalidade de Homero.

 1945

Completes the frescoes of the Gare Marítima de Alcântara. 

1948

Publishes Mito-Alegoria-Símbolo.

1949

Completes the frescoes of the Gare Marítima da Rocha do Conde de Óbidos.
His play, Antes de Começar, has its premiere at the Teatro-Estúdio do Salitre (Lisboa), directed by Fernando Amado.

1950

Gives an interview and delivers two lectures on Théleon e a Arte Abstracta, for the BBC microfones in London. Publishes A Chave Diz: Faltam Duas Tábuas e Meia de Pintura no Todo da Obra de Nuno Gonçalves.

1952

Publishes the poema Presença in the magazine Bicórnio.
Holds a solo show in the Galeria de Março in Lisbon.

1954

Finishes the tile panels and a stained glass window for the house in Rua de Alcolena, 28, in Lisbon, designed by the architect António Varela. Paints  Retrato de Fernando Pessoa à mesa do café com o Orpheu, for the Restaurante Irmãos Unidos, in Lisbon, a work he will paint a replica of in 1964, commissioned by the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.

1957

Presents four abstract-geometric oil paintings at the I Salão da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.

1959

Publishes the play Deseja-se Mulher, written in 1928.
Designs tapestry cartoons for the Ritz Hotel in Lisbon. 

1961

Concludes the decorations for the façades of the buildings of the Faculdade de Direito, Faculdade de Letras, Reitoria and the Secretaria Geral da Universidade de Lisboa (University of Lisbon campus).

1962

Holds, and publishes, the conference Poesia é Criação.

1963

Directed by Fernando Amado, Deseja-se Mulher is performed at the Casa da Comédia.

1965

Publishes Orpheu 1915-1965, an artist’s book with memories of the modernist group. Dssigns the sets and wardrobe for the play Auto da Alma, by Gil Vicente, at the Teatro de S. Carlos.

1969

Concludes the frescoes of the Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Coimbra.
Concludes the panel Começar at the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.

1970

Dies on the 15th of June, in Lisbon.