Almada Route

In 1952, Almada Negreiros was invited to create various ceramic panels for a house at 28 Rua de Alcolena, a property belonging to confessed admirers in Ajuda, Lisbon. In return for their esteem, the work the artist produced stood out for its rigorous technique and compelling beauty, reflecting the aesthetics of the 1910s-20s.  

In Portas de Santo Antão, in Lisbon’s Baixa district, a place called the Bristol Club appeared in 1918 that soon became one of the main focal points of the intelligentsia. Some years later, between 1925 and 1926, its owner and major patron, Mário Ribeiro, decided to completely revamp it in a Modernist style. Amongst other artists, he invited Almada Negreiros to create a magnificent oil painting for the Bristol representing a nude of a post-war cosmopolitan woman. The club closed in 1927.

Former home of the Counts of Ericeira, this Renaissance-era palace would later house the S. Luiz dos Franceses Hospital where Almada Negreiros died on 15th June 1970, ironically in the same room where his great friend the poet Fernando Pessoa also died many years earlier on 30th November 1935. The palace is named after one of its large cornerstones decorated with balls of masonry. It is said that the balls were originally covered in gold.

For years, Almada Negreiros had two homes. This one, in the heart of Lisbon, and a farm in Bicesse, on the way to Cascais. His wife, Sarah Afonso, preferred the calm of the farm, but Almada was unable to spend too long away from the hubbub of the city’s cafés and social scene. This building, from the latter half of the 18th century and classed by Lisbon Council as a public interest building, was his city residence, where he stayed temporarily but always came back to.

This is one of the places Almada Negreiros frequented most often when in Lisbon and until 1971 two oil paintings by the artist were part of the decor. The first alluded to the debates that took place there, bringing together artists and intellectuals and which he so often joined. Entitled Autoretrato num Grupo [Self-portrait in a Group], this work dates from 1925 and shows him amongst friends. The other, from the same year, is called As Banhistas [The Bathers]. The paintings can no longer be seen in their original locations, but the artist will forever be associated with this iconic patisserie in Chiado.

Opening hours: Everyday from 8.00 am – 2.00 pm

Price: €50 for two people