After his parents’ death, Joaquim Martins Correia (Golegã, 1910 – Lisbon, 1999) went to Casa Pia. In 1928, with a scholarship from this institution, he enrolled in the Lisbon Fine Arts Superior School (ESBAL), graduating in Sculpture. Later, he had an extensive teaching activity: between 1936 and 1942, he taught at the following schools – Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, Marquês de Pombal, Machado de Castro, Afonso Domingues and António Arroio. He was also a teacher at Casa Pia (1946-1958) and assistant at ESBAL. Between 1936 and 1942, he participated in the National Propaganda Secretariat salons and, in 1940, at the Viana do Castelo Aesthetic Mission Exhibition – for which he received a prize – and at the Portuguese World Exhibition. He took part in various Salons of the Fine Arts National Society (SNBA) and the 1st and 2nd Plastic Arts Exhibitions of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (1957 and 1961). He received the Mestre Soares dos Reis Prize (1942), Mestre Manuel Pereira Award (1943 and 1947), 1947 Lisbon Salon Award, Mestre Luciano Freire Prize – when he had a solo exhibition at the Diário de Notícias Gallery, in 1957, among others. In 1951, he published Poems by Sculptor Martins Correia. Although his sculptural work stood out – in which he developed innovative polychromatic solutions – he explored various media and forms. Frequent themes in his work include the woman, horse, bull and countryside scenes, affirming his connection to Portugal and, in particular, to his home town. In 1957, he was awarded the Order of Public Instruction, and in 1990, the Order of St. James of the Sword. In 1963, he received a prize for the Monuments to Father Manuel da Nóbrega (São Paulo, Brazil) and to the Overseas Portuguese Woman. In 1994, he was responsible for an intervention in the Lisbon Subway Station of Picoas; and in 1998, he did a tile panel for Expo’98. He also did decoration work for Café Império, for the stairway of the reception room of the Ritz Hotel and for the Golegã Justice Palace, among many others. In 1973, the SNBA organised a retrospective exhibition of his work and, in 2000, the Casa Pia Cultural Centre presented the Exhibition of Sculptor Martins Correia. In 1982, the artist offered all his artistic work to Golegã, and the Martins Correia Museum was created.
FMV, October 2020
