Naturalism in Portugal

BY A D R I A N A H E N R IQ UES
2 6 TH A PR IL 2 0 2 2
 Naturalism: what is it?
In addition to being a literary movement, naturalism had a great influence on the plastic arts
and theater.

It is, therefore, an aesthetic trend, which is often linked to realism, that is, it can be considered a
ramification of this.
Origin of Naturalism
Naturalism is a movement that emerged in France, in Literature and the Visual Arts, in the mid-
nineteenth century.

Painting is based on the faithful representation of nature, without resorting to the idealization of
Romanticism, capturing “objective reality”, to the detriment of the idea of imagination or
creativity dominant in official art of the time.
Characteristics of Naturalism
 Nature painting, captured outdoors;

The greatest possible fidelity to the phenomena of nature;

 Rejection of too much subjectivism and sentimentality from the Romantics;

 Objective representation of reality: landscape, portrait and everyday scenes;

 The light and atmosphere created by light effects play a primitive role.
 Authors and Works
of
Portuguese Naturalism
António Carvalho da Silva Porto (1850-1893)

António Carvalho de Silva Porto was a Portuguese naturalist painter.

His painting, full of light and color, is mainly inspired by Nature itself.

He is considered one of the founders of Naturalism in Portugal.

He is widely represented at the Museu do Chiado, in Lisbon, and at

the Museu Nacional De Soares Dos Reis, in Porto.
Conduzindo o rebanho (1893)
“Leading the herd”

Oil on canvas, measures 160 cm high and 200 cm wide

João Marques de Oliveira (1853-1927)
João Joaquim Marques da Silva Oliveira was
a painter and teacher, realist painter and introducer
of naturalism in Portugal.

In 1864 he entered the Porto Academy of Fine Arts,

completing the course in the history of painting in 1873.
He lived in France from 1873 to 1879, with his colleague Silva
Porto.
À espera dos barcos (1892)
“Waiting for the boats”

Oil on canvas, measures 77,5 cm high and 97 cm wide

 José Vital Branco Malhoa (1855 – 1933)
José Vital Branco Malhoa was a Portuguese painter, draftsman and
teacher.
At the age of 12 he entered the school of the Royal Academy of Fine
Arts in Lisbon. In every year he won the first prize, due to his
enormous faculties and artistic qualities.

He held several exhibitions, both in Portugal and abroad, namely in

Madrid, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.
He was a pioneer of Naturalism in Portugal, having integrated the
Grupo do Leão.
 O Fado (1910)
“The fado”

Oil painting on canvas, measures 150 cm high and 183 cm wide.

 Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro (1857 – 1929)

Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro was a Portuguese naturalist and

realist painter. He began his training at the Academia de
Belas Artes in Lisbon, where he was a student of Simões de
Almeida, a famous sculptor of Portuguese Romanticism.

He was also a member of the “Grupo do Leão”. From this

period onwards, the portraits of Ramalho Ortigão, Teófilo
Braga, Eça de Queirós and Antero de Quental, painted by
him, became famous.
Auto-retrato (1884)
“Self-portrait”

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