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Jorge Colaço: identity and transcultural framings
Patrícia Nóbrega
Az - Rede de Investigação em Azulejo
ARTIS – Instituto de História da Arte, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa
[email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT
This paper aims to analyze the frames in azulejo (tile) created by Jorge Colaço, from the following case
studies: “Sala dos Passos Perdidos” of the Medical School in Lisbon (1906), Buçaco Palace-Hotel (1907), São
Bento Train Station (1915) and the Justice Palace in Coimbra (1933-35).
Art of importation, but early adapting characteristics that made it an identity of the portuguese culture, the
azulejos produced in Portugal also reflects the influence of different cultures in a process of assimilation
and cultural transmissions that occurred throughout its history. As such, in the early 20th century, the
construction of an idea of a national artistic identity found in the azulejo a privileged means of expression.
In the wake of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro (1846-1905), Jorge Colaço (1868-1942) was also appointed as an
agent of the national ceramic’s renewal, sharing with Rafael an allegiance due to the artistic tradition of
their homeland.
Painter and ceramist, Colaço designed works of great monumentality, created under a strict line and a keen
sense of artistic system, giving equal importance both to the figurative compositions and the frames. By
embracing the historical painting genre, the artist sought to build a sense of identity and nationality
through the exploration of remarkable episodes in Portugal’s history, interspersing them with hints of
romanticism which sometimes involved genre paintings.
In turn, the space of the frame was seen as another experimental area, where the artist adopted a unique
and distinctive figurative vocabulary. The frames refer to artistic appropriations assimilated by the azulejo
(such as the Moorish, grotesque, exotic and Art Nouveau influence), which should be examined. This paper
will not only look at the contrast between figurative influence and frames, but also suggest that modernity
underlies the work of Colaço.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Patrícia Nóbrega has been a researcher since March 2009 and October 2014 at the Az – Azulejo Research Network,
ARTIS – Instituto de História da Arte, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa. As part of this research unit, she
worked on several projects concerning cataloging, inventory and tilework, in partnership with national and
international institutions. In 2013 obtained a Master’s Degree Museology from the Faculty of Social and Human
Sciences of the NOVA University of Lisbon with a dissertation entitled "The tile as a museum object", in which she
studied the new status of the tile as a movable, collectable and museum object. Currently, she has her main research
areas on inventory, collecting and provenance, reception and cultural transfer within tilework and her articles have
appeared in scientific publications.