In December 2014, two of the Museum Group's researchers, Joana Baião and Maria João Vilhena de Carvalho, successfully defended their doctoral dissertations, thus becoming integrated members of the IHA. Joana Baião wrote her dissertation with a doctoral grant from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia. She also cooperated as a researcher with the National Commission for the Commemoration of the Republic Centenary (2009-2010), and in the research project “Sources for the History of Art Museums in Portugal” (2010-2013) of the Instituto de História da Arte (FCSH, UNL). She is currently preparing the catalogue raisonné of the art exhibitions of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a project co-funded by the Foundation and the IHA.
The work and contribution of José de Figueiredo (1871-1937) to the fields of historiography, museology and heritage in Portugal.
Joana Margarida Gregório Baião
Abstract
Structured according to the “life and work” form that is characteristic of biographical narrative, this study is methodologically a compromise between a chronology of José de Figueiredo's career and a reflection on his role in the fields in which his work became known.
The first part contextualizes and analyses his family and schooling in Coimbra, his informal artistic training in Paris at the end of the nineteenth century and his integration in the scholarly circles of Lisbon society. Next comes an analysis of his work in the Portuguese cultural sector: his admission into the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Lisbon, at a time when he was becoming known as a specialist in “art related issues”; his role in the effort of research, restoration and promotion of the São Vicente paintings; his thoughts and contributions to the definition of Portuguese artistic and patrimonial legislation in the various social and political contexts he was involved in; his activity as art historian and critic, in a time of nationalist convictions, and when art history was becoming an independent field of research; his role in the promotion of Portuguese art through encouragement of Portuguese participation in international congresses and organization of important exhibitions in Seville (1929) and Paris (1931); and his work in the field of museology of art in Portugal, especially a critical reading of his contribution during his 26-year directorship of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (Lisbon).
The dissertation scrutinizes the actions and contributions of this personality within the Portuguese cultural scene, and seeks to contextualize them within European culture. It also reflects on the creation of the “José de Figueiredo myth”, which results from three interrelated causes: his personal ambition, marked by a singular will to progress and to make his mark on Portuguese culture; his charisma, strategically fed by skillful management of his public image; and a stimulating work situation, that allowed him access to material and human resources which he successfully managed, within and without the institutions he was a part of.
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The work and contribution of José de Figueiredo (1871-1937) to the fields of historiography, museology and heritage in Portugal.
Joana Margarida Gregório Baião
Abstract
Structured according to the “life and work” form that is characteristic of biographical narrative, this study is methodologically a compromise between a chronology of José de Figueiredo's career and a reflection on his role in the fields in which his work became known.
The first part contextualizes and analyses his family and schooling in Coimbra, his informal artistic training in Paris at the end of the nineteenth century and his integration in the scholarly circles of Lisbon society. Next comes an analysis of his work in the Portuguese cultural sector: his admission into the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Lisbon, at a time when he was becoming known as a specialist in “art related issues”; his role in the effort of research, restoration and promotion of the São Vicente paintings; his thoughts and contributions to the definition of Portuguese artistic and patrimonial legislation in the various social and political contexts he was involved in; his activity as art historian and critic, in a time of nationalist convictions, and when art history was becoming an independent field of research; his role in the promotion of Portuguese art through encouragement of Portuguese participation in international congresses and organization of important exhibitions in Seville (1929) and Paris (1931); and his work in the field of museology of art in Portugal, especially a critical reading of his contribution during his 26-year directorship of the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (Lisbon).
The dissertation scrutinizes the actions and contributions of this personality within the Portuguese cultural scene, and seeks to contextualize them within European culture. It also reflects on the creation of the “José de Figueiredo myth”, which results from three interrelated causes: his personal ambition, marked by a singular will to progress and to make his mark on Portuguese culture; his charisma, strategically fed by skillful management of his public image; and a stimulating work situation, that allowed him access to material and human resources which he successfully managed, within and without the institutions he was a part of.
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