The Soares dos Reis National Museum, in Porto, presents an exhibition of portraits and self-portraits that are part of the Treger Saint Silvestre collection, one of the most important and extensive private collections of Art Brut in the world.
The exhibition “Portreto de la Animo”, according to the curator António Saint Silvestre considered “the largest exhibition of Art Brut ever held in the Iberian Peninsula”, is promoted in partnership with the Municipality of São João da Madeira, the Centro de Arte Oliva and the collectors António Saint Silvestre and Richard Treger, with patronage support from Fundação Millennium bcp and Lusitânia Seguros and institutional support from Círculo Dr. José de Figueiredo – Associação de Amigos do MNSR.
The exhibition “Portreto de la Animo”, composed of around 150 works by 99 artists, will open today, July 13th, at 6pm, followed by the launch and presentation of the catalog (a co-edition of MNSR with Blue Book), as well as a guided tour of the Exhibition, led by curator António Saint Silvestre.
Based on the Esperanto expression portreto de la animo – which in Portuguese means “portrait of the soul” –, the exhibition provides a meeting between works from the collection of the Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis and the Treger Saint Silvestre collection, stored at the Art Center Olive. Portraits and self-portraits present themselves as tools for exploring the inner world and its multiple expressions.
Richard Treger and António Saint Silvestre began their collection inspired by the path started by Jean Dubuffet, a pioneer in collecting artistic productions that become reports of the unconscious. For the first time, they present their Portrait Gallery at the Soares dos Reis National Museum.