The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, on its official website, recalls its connection to the artistic journey of Eduardo Batarda at least since the 1970s, when he was a scholarship holder and graduated from the Royal College of Art in London.
Eduardo Batarda, who passed away today in Lisbon at the age of 81, had a retrospective exhibition at the Gulbenkian Modern Art Center (CAM) in 1998, featuring over 200 works.
The foundation reveals that it acquired three works by Eduardo Batarda last July, which means CAM currently holds 13 of his works, “comprising paintings and drawings from various decades since the 1960s.”
The National Museum Soares dos Reis in Porto noted that the visual artist “leaves behind a vast, complex, and multifaceted body of work, marked by irreverence and influences from pop culture,” as stated in a post on social media.
Similarly, the Armando Martins Contemporary Art Museum in Lisbon expressed “deep sadness” over the loss of “a key figure in contemporary Portuguese art.”
“A dedicated teacher and major reference in painting in Portugal, Eduardo Batarda left an invaluable legacy that will continue to inspire and challenge views on contemporary art,” emphasized this private museum.
Gallery owner Pedro Oliveira described Eduardo Batarda to Lusa agency as a significant artist, not only of his generation but also of those that followed, particularly due to his role as a teacher at the Porto School of Fine Arts.
“He had many students who are now excellent artists, leaving a very important mark on younger generations. His work was highly significant. In recent years, he worked little because he was very ill,” stated the gallery owner, noting Batarda achieved the status of “master” and praising his intellectual capacity beyond the visual arts.
Eduardo Manuel Batarda Fernandes was born in Coimbra in 1943, initially enrolled in a medical course in 1960 but left three years later to pursue Painting, studying at the Lisbon School of Fine Arts from 1963 to 1968, followed by studies at the Royal College of Art.
In 1976, he began teaching at the Porto School of Fine Arts, combining teaching with intense and multifaceted artistic practice in the following decades.
His first exhibitions date from 1966 to 1968. Among the most recent is the anthological exhibition at the Serralves Museum in Porto, “Eduardo Batarda: Outra Vez Não,” in 2011.
This year, Eduardo Batarda was the “central figure” of the Maia Contemporary Art Biennale.
Awarded the EDP Foundation Prize for Plastic Arts in 2007 and the Grand Prize Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso in 2019, Eduardo Batarda received the Medal of Cultural Merit from the Ministry of Culture in 2020.
