Continuing our exploration of modern art in Lisbon, we stop at the CCB (Centro Cultural de Belém, 1989-92). There are two shows that have drawn us: one based on the curation by Peggy Guggenheim of female artists, and another based on political posters from Portugal's 'hot summer' of 1975. The CCB is in the western neighborhood of Belém, in the old area of the World Exposition of 1940; it's an over-scaled series of contemporary courtyard blocks with beautiful split-faced stone.
The Black Spray (Alexander Calder, 1956) greets us in the circular stairwell, slowly moving bird and leaf-like shadows under the conical skylight. The lines, silhouettes, and floating motion are echoed in Proun 1. Kestnermappe (El Lissitsky, 1923. Both pieces provide preparation for a day of modern art.
Before we enter the exhibition, a small gallery acts as an appetizer, and features works by Lourdes Castro on the walls and Marcel Duchamp in a central glass case. Castro's shadowed images continue the current theme, as exemplified by Sombra Projectada de Claudine Bury (Castro, 1964). The case contains Duchamp's Boîte [Série C] (1958) but offers views through the transparent panels to the surrounding pieces by Castro, such as No Café (1964).
The gallery is also a reminder of the Bôite-en-valise that we saw last fall at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. It connects Peggy Guggenheim with a female master of Portuguese modernism and further sets up the featured show.
The main show is introduced by two life-size vinyl images of the original show "Exhibition by 31 Women" (1943, Art of This Century Gallery, New York). On the far wall, the thirty-one women are each given a photo and biographical tribute. It's almost a shame the curators had not attempted to recreate, and least in part, the curved walls or the diamond-shaped cable-structures employed in the original show.
Peacock Garden (Esphyr Slobodkina, 1938) seems to exemplify the spirit of that time and the exhibit, with mid-century colors and rhythms. Sem Título (Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, 1949) connects to another well-known Portuguese female artist.
The Book of Repulsive Women (Djuna Barnes, 1915) and Three-Dimensional Composition in Blue (Irene Rice Pereira, 1940) show the range of work, from satirical books to stained glass.
Uma Deriva Atlântica (Exposição Permanente)
In spite of the excellent series of preludes, the special exhibit ends abruptly, leaving us in a large gallery showing tpieces from he permanent collection – but the selection is astonishingly good.
We are immediately drawn to Composição (1948) by Vieira da Silva and mistakenly think that 31 Mulheres continues here. The wall label explains:
Maria Helena Vieira da Silva was one of the artists chosen by Peggy Guggenheim for the exhibition 31 Women, which she organised [sic] at the Art of this Century gallery in New York in 1943. While it is not known what work she exhibited at the time, Peggy Guggenheim said that Vieira da Silva reminded her of Paul Klee.
Natura Morta (1943) by Giorgio Morandi hangs on the opposite wall, an artist we got to know very well during our trip to Bologna in May. Femme dans un fauteuil [Métamorphose] (Pablo Picasso, 1929) is nearby, an painting from Picasso's surrealist phase, but with whimsical touches of synthetic cubism.
Sabro (Franz Kline, 1956) is around the corner, taking us fully into abstract expressionism. Two further pieces, Tot Negre amb Clivelles (Antoni Tàpies, 1962) and Untitled (Cy Twombly, 1957), are examples of the extremes, studies in darkness and white.
Número d'oiro. Ângulo ideal - Relação 9/10 (José de Almada Negreiros, 1958) and Study for Homage to the Square: Blond Autumn (Josef Albers, 1964) present similar studies in color and proportions; we saw many Homages in Brussels last summer.
In terms of sculptural extremes, the rigid Royal Tide, Dawn (Louise Nevelson, 1960-1964) and the melting Soft Light Switches, "Ghost" Version (Claes Oldenburg, 1963) both give abstracted views of common objects.
Finally, Olds (Ed Ruscha, 1988-1989) delivers an American twist on something so abstract, it becomes realistic again. It's a painting that looks like a photo or graphic print and leads us into the show of political posters.
In Portuguese history, between the Carnation Revolution (April 25th, 1974) and the signing of the Constitution (April 25th, 1976), is the Verão Quente de 1975 (hot summer). These posters are a visual time capsule of that period (also top image).
The dictatorship had left behind a poor, backward, and grey country, but therevolution had opened the doors to the will—both individual and collective—to move forward. On one hand, there was a Portugal with little employment and few resources; on the other, a people emerged, driven by ideas, eager to express their newly gained freedom of speech and to build a new Portugal.
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