Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro

Inside the house that founder Ernesto Cruz Magalhães built as both his own residence and the museum, there has been a long-term exhibition since 2005.

The heritage value of the building, awarded an honourable mention in the 1914 Valmor Prize, is evoked in the exhibition areas, spread across the two original floors, excepting the ground floor, where rooms have been linked internally. As for the rest, the building has been maintained with a view to preserving the atmosphere of the age, respecting façades, external openings and construction materials. The library, the former kitchen of the house, retains its two-tone floor in hydraulic mosaic tiles.

On the ground floor, a photo-biography of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro is on display, covering the period between 1863 and 1904.

The library can be visited by the public, but with limited access. Visitors have the opportunity to consult some publications produced by the museum and, via computer:

view a film devoted to the artist, directed by Miguel Ceitil and coordinated by Fernando Lopes, from archive images and based on a script by Raquel Henriques da Silva;

access Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro’s key periodicals – which can be found online in the Hemeroteca Digital de Lisboa (Lisbon Digital Newspaper Library).

On the staircase leading to the first floor of the building, we can see the oil painting of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, painted by his brother Columbano, dated 1891.

Self-portraits

There are countless self-portraits of Rafael Bordalo, full of humour and irony, that document episodes in his personal and professional life as well as diverse events. In this small section of the exhibition, emphasis is placed on a series of drawings, prints, a watercolour featuring a self-portraits of the artist: the oldest from 1865 and the most recent from the end of 1904. In the latter, Rafael Bordalo depicts himself as young and old, an interval of Twenty years later.

Zé Povinho, always the same!

Rafael Bordalo’s brilliant creation and symbol of the Portuguese people, the image of Zé Povinho still endures today. In the room devoted to him, you can see the first original drawing showing Zé Povinho, published in the gazette Lanterna Mágica in 1875, as well as the only image in existence of a ‘Zé Junior’; Zé Povinho, ‘The Sovereign’, from the Álbum das Glórias; various images from A Paródia and some ceramic pieces, where Zé Povinho is shown making an ‘up yours’ gesture.

Personal objects of Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro

One of the exhibition rooms displays a group of personal objects belonging to the artist: his last box of watercolours, the pen with which he drew O António Maria, a ring and his monocle, ceramic pieces he dedicated to the family and some of his tools for his ceramic work: modelling tools, such as files and palette knives, bottles of ceramic enamel with various pigments, from the Le Franc brand, a monogrammed signet to stamp the pieces produced at the Fábrica de Faianças das Caldas da Rainha and also his cotton work overalls. The signs of use on these objects reflect the life full of experimentation and creation that always inspired the artist.