Project ALMADA ‘ended on a high note’ last Friday, March 14th, with its final seminar, says PI and HERCULES Laboratory – University of Évora / IN2PAST researcher Milene Gil. The seminar was held at maritime station of Rocha do Conde de Óbidos, in Lisbon, where one of the clusters of Almada Negreiros mural paintings studied as part of this project is located.

‘It was a day of sharing, conversation and good humour, including lunch next to Almada Negreiros’ paintings and a final edition which tells the story of the research through images’, added Milene, who headed the 4-year project (2021/2025) aiming to study, for the first time using imaging and analysis techniques, the mural painting legacy of one of the key figures of the avant-garde and modernism in Portugal, as a guide to its conservation and fruition.

At the end of a busy day, filled with nine 20-minute presentations on project ALMADA’s findings and its strategy for dissemination and public engagement, dozens of participants were surprised by the offer of the limited edition book O Desvendar da Arte da Pintura Mural de Almada Negreiros (1938-1956), designed by Bruna Godinho and printed by Gráfica Eborense.

With the participation of Catarina and Rita Almada Negreiros, the artist’s granddaughters and project consultants, the seminar focused on such topics as Almada Negreiros’ artistic commissions and restoration processes, his preparatory studies and creative process, the murals in Alcântara and World War II, the artist’s technical details and materials of choice, the ‘Parisian’ powder pigments found in his atelier in Portugal, his use of Esmeralda green, the main anomalies found in the paintings (guides for future conservation).

Take a peek at the project’s latest interactive tool regarding the mural paintings on the west wall of the Alcântara maritime station, which presents facts and curiosities about these works, painted in 1945. With content curation led by art historian Mariana Pinto dos Santos, IHA – NOVA FCSH / IN2PAST researcher, the goal of this demonstration ‘is to spark curiosity and inspire visits to the murals along Lisbon’s riverside’, the ALMADA team explains on the website https://labhercules-nas.uevora.pt/almada/tools/. Feel free to share your thoughts on this demo by sending an email to almadanegreiros@uevora.pt.