Armando Martins was born in 1949 in the municipality of Penamacor. His childhood was far removed from the world of art. 

At the age of 14, he went to school in Lisbon. In his teens, he made his first visit to an art museum, the Museum of Ancient Art. This did not mark a turning point in his attitude towards art; contemporary art would prove to be his vocation and passion. 

His sensitivity and interest in the world of art only emerged later, at first timidly and in stark contrast to the path he was to follow professionally.

The desire to fly higher

As a young student, Martins was enthralled by the idea of defying gravity and wanted to study aeronautical engineering, a course that did not exist in Portugal at that time. He enrolled at the University of Liége in Belgium, but for financial reasons had to stay in Portugal. Reality brought him crashing down to earth and it was there that he would make his flights of fancy, keeping a close eye on the world around him.

He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico in 1973 and began his professional career that same year. 

At the end of the 1970s he moved to Brazil, returning to Lisbon in the mid-1980s. Since then, he has enjoyed a successful career in the property industry, setting up several companies. 

In the 1990s, he set up Grupo Fibeira SGPS, S.A., focusing on property development, hotels and services. He is the honorary chairman of the group today. 

He was the developer of the Atrium Saldanha building in Lisbon. Designed by the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill, the building won the Valmor Architecture Prize in 2001 and other accolades. 

Martins also owns the Palácio do Correio-Mor in Loures and the Palácio Condes da Ribeira Grande in Junqueira, Lisbon, where he set up the MACAM project.

Interest in art

Martins’ interest in collecting and the visual arts began at the age of 18, when he pooled his resources with a friend to purchase some serigraphs. 

He treated himself to his first original work of art to mark his 25th birthday. 

This experience was the first milestone in a journey of no return, and the beginning of what would become the Armando Martins Collection. From then on, his activity as a collector intensified.

Endowed with a restless and entrepreneurial spirit, Armando Martins continues to nurture his ability to dream and develop projects that sometimes take him out of his comfort zone. His love of art is a case in point. 

The Collection and the Museum

Not only did Armando Martins decide to create one of the best art collections in Portugal, he also harboured a desire to share his collection by founding a museum. 

In 2007, he completed the private acquisition of the Palácio dos Condes da Ribeira Grande, a historic 18th-century building. He had the palace refurbished to create the museum and decided to include a 5-star hotel as a means of financing and sustaining the autonomy of the project.

In 2018, the museum was issued the ‘A’ Collection Award by the Fundación Arco, an institution dedicated to the promotion, research and dissemination of contemporary art. 

Three years later, he was awarded the Collector’s Prize by the Portuguese Museology Association for creating a private museum to promote his collection.

What was once just a dream is now a reality. The Armando Martins Collection has 50 years of history behind it and the MACAM Museum will open its doors to the public at the end of 2024.