José Sobral de Almada Negreiros (S. Tomé, 7 April 1893 – Lisbon, 15 June 1970) is one of the most striking figures of Portuguese culture in the 20th century, with an incomparable legacy in visual arts and in literature. Almada emerged from the first generation of Portuguese modernists. The artist was publicly associated to the Portuguese Futuristic movement, since 1915, due to his connection to Revista Orpheu, where he actively contributed to the aesthetic and social rupture with an unyielding past. Besides being an artist, a painter and a writer (from poems to novels, from essays to plays, not forgetting his artistic and political manifestos), Almada was also a choreographer, dancer and costume designer. From the 30’s onwards, he intensifies his work as a visual artist, intervening also in several architectural projects. As a writer, Almada gained great recognition with the novel Nome de Guerra [Name of War] (1938) and the play Antes de Começar [Before It Begins] (1943), before signing two of his most reknowned works as a painter: the fresco for the maritime stations Gare Marítima de Alcântara (1943-1945) and Gare Rocha de Conde de Óbidos (1946-1949). Up to his death, Almada Negreiros kept a restless spirit, along with the irreverance which striked through all of his multifaceted career.
