José Malhoa | Naturalist painter

José Vital Branco Malhoa, known simply as José Malhoa (28 April 1855 - 26 October 1933) was a Portuguese painter.

Malhoa was, with Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, the leading name in Portuguese naturalist painting in the second half of the 19th century.

They were both members of the Grupo do Leão (Lion Group), a group of artists and writers in the 1880s.

He often painted popular scenes and subjects, like his two most famous paintings: The Drunks (1907) and Fado (1910).

He always remained faithful to the naturalist style, but in some of his works there are impressionist influences, as in his Autumn (1918), that can be considered an "impressionist exercise".

Malhoa was born in Caldas da Rainha, and studied art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Lisbon from the age of 12.

He died in Figueiró dos Vinhos, aged 78.

At the end of his life, he saw the inauguration of the José Malhoa Museum, in Caldas da Rainha.

Malhoa's House, also known as the Dr. Anastácio-Gonçalves House-Museum, in Lisbon, was originally built in 1905 as a residence and studio for the artist.

It was bought by Dr. Anastácio-Gonçalves, an art collector, a year before the painter's death, and it became a museum in 1980, showcasing several items from his collection, namely works from Portuguese painters of the 19th and 20th century.

From 1921 until his death he was the master of the renowned painter Maria de Lourdes de Mello e Castro, who was his last disciple.

In 1933, the year of his death, the José Malhoa Museum was created in Caldas da Rainha.

He had artistic collaboration in the magazine Atlântida (1915-1920).

His well known studio, named "Casulo", in Figueiró dos Vinhos, is restored and available for visits.

He was buried in the Prazeres Cemetery, in Lisbon. | Source: © Wikipedia

José Vital Branco Malhoa (1855-1933) è stato uno dei più celebri ed influenti pittori Portoghesi, considerato insieme a Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro, il massimo esponente del naturalismo e del realismo in Portogallo.

La sua opera si distingue per la straordinaria capacità di catturare la luce, il colore e le scene di vita quotidiana del popolo portoghese, spaziando dai costumi rurali alla cultura urbana dell'epoca.

Malhoa dedicò gran parte della sua carriera a ritrarre la vita delle campagne e le tradizioni locali, senza tralasciare una profonda sensibilità per i ritratti intimi di familiari, amici od animali domestici, come nel celebre dipinto Os Gatos (I Gatti).

Per preservare la sua vasta eredità artistica, a Caldas da Rainha (sua città natale) è stato fondato il Museo José Malhoa, il primo edificio in Portogallo progettato specificamente per ospitare una funzione museale.

La struttura custodisce la più grande collezione pubblica delle sue opere, oltre ad importanti sculture e ceramiche portoghesi del XIX e XX secolo.