Auto-Retrato num grupo (Pintura para o café “A Brasileira” do Chiado, Lisboa) (Self-Portrait in a Group [Painting for the Café “A Brasileira” in Chiado, Lisbon])

José de Almada Negreiros (Santo Tomé, 1893 – Lisbon, 1970) was a pivotal artist of Portuguese modernism and a controversial figure owing to the intellectual, artistic and political stances he adopted. His early adherence to Futurism and the publication of the Manifesto Anti-Dantas linked him to the avant-garde’s most radical side and the idea of a break-away from conservatism, an attitude in sharp contrast to his subsequent collaboration in art projects from the fascist Estado Novo in Portugal. In June 1927, Almada Negreiros moved to Madrid to put together an exhibition of his work, organised by Ernesto Giménez Caballero’s La Gaceta Literaria and with the collaboration of his friend, Ramón Gómez de la Serna. Furthermore, he would participate, as a representative of the Portuguese press, in the V Latin Congress of the Press, held on 1 July 1927 at the Palacio del Senado in Madrid, championing, in his speech, “thought around the union of Spain and Portugal, a union of peace and culture which must work for the advancement of both nations”. In Madrid, where he lived until 1931, he was engaged in the city’s art scene, participating in different projects: book and magazine illustrations, exhibitions, murals, set designs for theatre productions and magic lantern shows.  

A core activity in both Madrid and Lisbon was participating in the cultural gatherings that took place in different cafés, which had become spaces for socialising and exchanging ideas between leading avant-garde figures. In Madrid he was part of those at Café Pombo, orchestrated by Gómez de la Serna, Café Zahara and Café Granja El Henar, while in Lisbon a significant gathering took place at the A Brasileira do Chiado café, frequented by writers such as Fernando Pessoa and Almada Negreiros himself. In 1925 he produced a set of paintings to adorn the café, including this example here, a loan from the Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian in Lisbon, where he depicted himself on the left, alongside the Spanish dancer and actress Júlia de Aguilar, the actress Aurora Gil and the scientist Francisco Nazareth.

Cultura Portugal is a cultural programme by the Portuguese Embassy in Spain, within Cultural Action Abroad from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture, which this year is associated with the Joint Cultural Programme Portugal-Spain: 50 Years of Culture and Democracy, the result of an agreement signed at the last bilateral summit, including the presentation of this work in the Museo Reina Sofía. The joint programme driven forward by Portugal and Spain is a tribute to culture as a key element for democracy and peace.