Carlos Botelho

Carlos Botelho (1899-1982) was one of the most important Portuguese painters, illustrators and caricaturists of the twentieth century. Born in Lisbon, he began his artistic career in humorous drawing and illustration, in which he portrayed the Portuguese society of his time with irony and sensitivity.

Although he attended the Escola de Belas-Artes de Lisboa, he followed an essentially independent path, establishing himself as a painter from the 1930s onwards. The city of Lisbon became the central subject of his work, and he was frequently called the "painter of Lisbon". Urban views, historic neighbourhoods, rooftops and the atmosphere of the Portuguese capital are among the most striking motifs of his artistic output.

In the course of his career he took part in the decoration of Portuguese pavilions at important international exhibitions, in cities such as Paris, New York and San Francisco, and he received various prizes and distinctions for his work. His painting, influenced by European modernism and enriched by travels abroad, developed a language of its own that reconciled the observation of reality, chromatic freedom and great expressiveness.

Represented in some of the most relevant Portuguese and international art collections, Carlos Botelho left a vast and singular body of work that occupies a prominent place in the history of modern Portuguese art. His legacy remains intimately associated with the poetic and innovative representation of the urban landscape of Lisbon.