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working in Paris. He also exchanged the
naturalistic tradition of Portuguese painting
for the new directions that were opening
up before his increasingly sophisticated
eyes. After experimenting with primitivism
and approaches influenced by his new
friend, Amedeo Modigliani, he emerged as
an expressionist painter in important exhib-
its between 1910 and 1914. At the Armory
Show in New York City (1913) a total of
eight of his works were exhibited along-
side those of P
ABLO
P
ICASSO
, Henri Matisse,
Georges Braque, and Marcel Duchamp.
When these same paintings were exhib-
ited in Chicago three of the eight were
purchased by the noted collector Arthur
Jerome Eddy:
Saut du Lapin
(
Leap of the
Rabbit,
1911),
Marine pont l'Abbé
(
Marina
at Pont L'Abbé,
1912),
Chateau fort
(
Strong-
hold,
1912).
Chateau fort
has attracted par-
ticular attention for its integration of
cubism and art nouveau. A study in subtle
blues and greens, the complex geometric
landscape blends with a fantastic castle
whose architectural elements recall both
the artist's early training and his sensitiv-
ity to Portuguese traditions. The Eddy
purchases were subsequently donated to
the Art Institute of Chicago, which pro-
vide an almost unique American venue
for the artist's work.
His meteoric artistic career swept him on
from figuration through cubism and to
exhibits and sales in Germany, as well as a
planned first showing in London, but the
outbreak of World War I and his marriage
compelled his return to Portugal. There his
international contacts and growing reputa-
tion were less appreciated. He threw him-
self into support of the nascent avant-garde
in his own country, not only among paint-
ers, but in the context of the futurist liter-
ary movement. This was not the moment,
however, when anything labeled “modern-
ist” or “futurist” was likely to find easy
acceptance. Souza Cardoso's organization
of a show called
Abstractionism,
first in L
IS
-
BON
, then in O
PORTO
(1916), prompted
denunciations for its “radicalism” and its
“anticlericalism.” He was attacked in print,
verbally abused, and even physically
assaulted by those who regarded him as a
promoter of alien values. The poet F
ER
-
NANDO
P
ESSOA
might have hailed him as
“the most celebrated Portuguese vanguard
painter” and the critic Almada may have
called him “Portugal's first discovery in
twentieth century Europe,” but the country
at large was not ready for him or his ideas.
Following his death in the influenza epi-
demic of 1918, when barely 30 years old,
Souza Cardoso sank into relative obscurity
among his compatriots. Despite the efforts
of his widow and isolated members of the
cultural community he remained a mar-
ginal presence for some 35 years. It was not
until the Salazar regime began seeking
international status in the 1950s that he
started to receive due attention as an artist
of the first rank. His work was assembled in
museums, his name was attached to galler-
ies and public buildings, and his status as a
pioneer of modern art was proudly cele-
brated. The new Portuguese icon was hon-
ored by major exhibitions in Brussels
(1991), M
ADRID
(1998), and Washington,
Chicago, and the place where he had
enjoyed his first international recognition,
New York City (1999-2000). Entering the
21st century, Souza Cardoso appears to
have, however belatedly, secured his place
not merely as a Portuguese painter but a
significant promoter of modernism in the
Western world.
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