“With a unique career, the father of visionism, an aesthetic movement he created in Portugal [in the 1990s], leaves an indelible mark through his vast body of work, immortalized in original paintings and sculptures inspired by the sea, oceans, and the history of Portugal. A legacy present in several museums, institutions, town halls, and private collections across various countries,” states the gallery in a release, highlighting the “close connection” of the artist with the Estoril Sol group.
The first solo exhibition by Luís Vieira Baptista was at this Art Gallery in 1975, and in 2017 he exhibited ‘HeArt Beats’ at the Art Gallery of Casino Lisboa.
In 50 years of career, “he held more than 50 solo exhibitions,” in addition to participating in several group exhibitions. The most recent solo exhibition was at the Convento de Cristo, in Tomar, ‘Telesma e os Cavaleiros do Mar’ (2023).
In 2019, he was invited by the Pavel Tretyakov Foundation to hold an exhibition in Moscow as part of the celebration of 240 years of Portugal-Russia diplomatic relations.
Born in Lisbon in 1954, Luís Vieira-Baptista attended the National Society of Fine Arts, where he took the Life Drawing course under the guidance of sculptor Quintino Sebastião.
According to the same source, the artist created two artistic groups, ‘Visionista’ and ‘Artitude’, aimed at intervening in public and patrimonial spaces.
He was awarded the Medal of Merit in gold degree by the Oeiras City Council in 2003 after constructing the ‘À porta do mar: nave Visionista’ sculptural monument near St. Amaro beach in that municipality on the outskirts of Lisbon.
In the noble hall of the Marquês de Pombal Foundation in Linda-a-Velha, his works have been on permanent display since 2017.
