Luís Dourdil

Luís Dourdil was born in Coimbra in 1914 and died in Lisbon in 1989. A self-taught painter and draughtsman, he began his artistic career in adolescence through drawing, which remained a fundamental component of his work.

The observation of everyday life and of the human figure profoundly marked his work. The people of Alfama and of the riverside area of Lisbon, the varinas (fishwives), the workers and other anonymous figures of the city were recurring themes. Starting out from figuration, he developed a language that drew progressively closer to abstraction, in which forms unfold into patches and planes of colour. The softness of the contrasts, the light and the dissolving of the outlines bring the figures closer to the surrounding space, giving the compositions an atmospheric and lyrical dimension.

Mural painting also occupies a significant place in his career. Among his interventions in Lisbon, particular mention should be made of the panel for the Café Império, made in 1955, and the mural for the Restaurante Panorâmico de Monsanto, from 1967, works in which he explored the composition and rhythm of forms on an architectural scale.

He took part in numerous exhibitions in Portugal and abroad, including the Salões de Arte Moderna and the Salões de Desenho e Gravura of the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes. Among the international presentations, particular mention should be made of "Arte Portuguesa Contemporânea", in Brasília, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, in 1976, the "Exposição de Pintura e Escultura Contemporâneas", in Madrid, in 1977, and the Bienal Ibero-Americana de Desenho, in Mexico City, in 1980.

He held senior positions on the board of the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes between 1957 and 1963. He received the Prémio de Desenho of the Casa da Imprensa in 1965 and the first prize for painting at the exhibition held by Portuguese artists in homage to Almada Negreiros in 1984.

After his death, his work was revisited in several exhibitions, notably at the Palácio Galveias in Lisbon in 2001 and at the Casa da Cerca in Almada, with "O Lápis como Instrumento Soberano", in 2002. The commemorations of the centenary of his birth extended through 2014 and 2015, including "Beleza e Tragédia em Luís Dourdil", at the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes, and the exhibition cycle "A Pintura Antes de Tudo".

He is represented in various public and private collections, among them those of the Centro de Arte Moderna of the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, MACAM and the Museu da Farmácia.