Dordio Gomes (Arraiolos, 1890 - Porto, 1976) attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Lisbon between 1902 and 1910 where he had as a master of painting Veloso Salgado. The sober palette of his earlier works also reveals an influence from Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro. In 1910, thanks to the Legado Valmor scholarship he left for Paris with the sculptor Francisco Franco, where he attends the Julian Academy and Jean-Paul Laurens classes. The following year he returned to Arraiolos where he remained for ten years. During this phase, his production remained essentially marked by traditional naturalism and Colombano’s influence. The year of 1921, however, marked the beginning of a decisive stage of his work. His scholarship was renewed, and he left again for Paris, until 1926. In addition to attending the National School of Fine Arts in Paris and the atelier of Ferdinand Cormon, he developed contact with new international movements, attending meetings with other Portuguese artists, at the time in Paris. This expansion of his environment reflected in a modern character of his work, marked by a cézannian treatment of color and forms, particularly in the accentuation of volumes and plans. Some of his most famous works date from this phase (Casas de Malakoff, 1923, and Auto-retrato da natureza morta, 1924). During his stay in Paris he traveled to other European cities, including a period of eight months in Italy where he studied the Renaissance painting of the old masters. Returned to Alentejo he resumed regionalist themes, maintaining the modern trace and the influence of Cézanne. In 1934 he moved to Porto as a painting teacher at the School of Fine Arts. Taking the landscapes of the North and particularly the Douro river as favorite themes, he would abandon the modernist expression, adopting softer tones and contrasts. He participated in numerous exhibitions, such as the annuals from the National Society of Fine Arts, the famous exhibition 5 Independentes (1923) and the I Salão dos Independentes (1930), having received in 1938 the Columbano Prize and, in 1945, the António Carneiro Prize. Abroad, he participated in the International Exhibitions of Rio de Janeiro (1922) and Paris (1937), at the XXV Biennial of Venice (1959) and at the Biennials of S. Paulo (1951, 1953 and 1955). He is represented in several public and private collections.
FMV, October 2020
