“In this building, painter Carlos Botelho was born.” That’s what the Carlos Botelho Plaque tells us. The plaque commemorates one of Lisbon’s most relevant artists. Carlos Botelho captured the city’s spirit.
Carlos Botelho was born in Lisbon on September 18 1899. Music dominated his childhood. His parents were musicians. He even played the violin. His father died when Carlos was only eleven.
Botelho attended Pedro Nunes Grammar School. He held his first solo exhibition there. He befriended Bento de Jesus Caraça and Luís Ernâni Dias Amado. Later, he enrolled in the Lisbon School of Fine Arts. But he soon abandoned it. He found conventional training unsatisfying. Botelho became an eminently self-taught artist.
In 1922, Carlos Botelho married Beatriz Santos Botelho. They had two children. Their names were José Rafael and Raquel. From 1926 to 1929, he drew comic strips. These appeared in the children’s weekly ABCzinho. He created almost all the front and back pages in color.
In 1928, he started a comic page in Sempre Fixe. He maintained this collaboration for over 22 years. It was a stage for caustic criticism. He covered daily life in Lisbon. He also addressed international events. His style mixed chronicle autobiography journalism and satire. This made it an early example of autobiographical comics.
His Ecos da Semana ran for about 1200 pages. It was a continuous discourse with no intervals or holidays. It was a diary of the author. It was also a diary of a country. It was a diary of the unsaid. National politics was excluded due to censorship. However, he confronted the build-up to World War II. He created drawings making fun of Mussolini and Hitler.
By 1929, Carlos Botelho was a well-known humorist. That year, he went to Paris. He attended free academies like the Grande Chaumière. This was a turning point. He opted for painting. His first painting of Lisbon dates from 1929. It was a view from the cupola of the Estrela Basilica.
Throughout the 1930s, Botelho worked abroad. He participated in major international exhibitions. He worked on the Portugal pavilion at the International and Colonial Exhibition of Vincennes in Paris. He also worked on the Portugal stand at the Lyon International Fair.
From 1937, he joined the SPN team. This was the Secretariat for National Propaganda. He worked with Bernardo Marques and Fred Kradolfer. They produced Portugal pavilions for exhibitions in Paris New York and San Francisco.
In 1930, he set up his studio in Costa do Castelo. It was next to St George’s Castle. His wife had a right to the house due to her position as a teacher. The location influenced his subject matter. It provided subjects and references. These marked his artistic career.
During his stay in Paris in 1937, he visited a Van Gogh retrospective. He was extremely impressed. It strengthened the expressive violence of his painting. He also discovered Ensor in Flanders.
In 1938, he received the Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso prize. It was for the portrait of his father. In 1939, he won 1st Prize at the International Contemporary Art Exposition in San Francisco. This allowed him to buy land. He later built his house-studio in Buzano near Lisbon.
In 1940, he joined the decorating team for the Portuguese World Exhibition in Lisbon. He also received the Columbano Prize. This was at the 5th Modern Art Exhibition.
In 1949, he left the house in Costa do Castelo. He settled in Buzano. From 1955, he returned to Lisbon. He lived in the new neighborhood of Areeiro. In 1969, he retired from the SNI. That was the National Information Secretariat. He had worked there since the 1940s.
Carlos Botelho died in Lisbon in 1982. He left behind a legacy. His Lisbon paintings capture the city’s soul. The Carlos Botelho Plaque stands as a reminder. It commemorates his life and work. It marks the birthplace of a great artist. Take a moment to appreciate his contribution to Lisbon’s cultural heritage.