Metal wire, cotton string, photographic reproductions and water-based colours on plywood (191 x 191 cm)

c. 1950

Private collection | Photography ©DGPC/LJF, Luís Piorro

This study, of large dimensions and complex production, had not previously been shown due to its extreme fragility, demanding restricted handling to not deteriorate the fine cotton threads stretched taut for decades. Since some of the threads had already succumbed to the passing of time (due to being attached with metal wires that oxidised and broke), moving the work would only make sense if it could be the object of restoration. To do this, it would be necessary to understand the directions of the geometrical lines materialised by those threads, in order to be able to replace their original disposition.

Only recently have the preparatory drawings for this work been identified, thus enabling the reproduction, in digital format, of each of the represented geometric shapes. This task, undertaken by Simão Palmeirim and Pedro J. Freitas, served as the base for the complete restoration of the work, carried out, in 2020, by the Laboratório José de Figueiredo for this exhibition.

Virtual Archive of the Orpheu Generation

Photographs

Almada and the panels