The eclectic work of Eduardo Viana (Lisbon, 28 November 1881 – Lisbon, 21 February 1967) represented, together with some other contemporary artists, an initial and fundamental Portuguese modernist practice. Viana attended the Lisbon Academy of Fine Arts in 1896, where he was taught by José Veloso Salgado and he followed, out of his own initiative, the work of Columbano. After giving up the course in 1905, Viana lived between Lisbon and Paris, interacting with other artists and attending private schools such as the Académie Julian. He remained connected to the Portuguese cultural nucleus, by participating in the annual exhibitions of the Fine Arts National Society (1905-1914) and in the Free Exhibition (1911), for which he was granted an honourable mention. If a first period of his work is characterised by naturalism, in works such as “Interior” (1914) or “A Mulher da Laranja” (The Woman with the Orange), we can already detect a contact with the Cézannian volumes. At the beginning of the War in 1914, Viana returned to Portugal, initiating a defining period of maturity. He was present in the Summer festivities of S. João, using these traditional themes in his paintings, and he lived in Vila do Conde between 1915 and 1917, with Sonia and Robert Delaunay. It was this interaction, joined by Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, that originated in Viana a stronger determination to ascertain himself as a member of the vanguard, and he became one of the main artists within the first modernist generation in Portugal. He was part of the 3rd Exhibition of the Modernists, 1919 (Oporto); the following year, he had his first solo exhibition in Lisbon and in 1921, in Oporto. In 1923, he participated in the 5 Independentes exhibition, collaborated in the famous decoration of the A Brasileira café and, in 1925, in the organisation of the 1st Autumn Salon. Also in 1925, he travelled again to Paris, England and Holland, and remained in Belgium until 1940. Is this was a less celebrated period in his career, upon returning to Portugal he was again involved in various activities, and represented his country at the 25th Venice Bienale and at the 3rd São Paulo Biennial.
FMV, April 2020
