The Sociedade Nacional de Bela-Artes (SNBA) presents Nadir Afonso: Territory of Absolute Freedom, an expansive exhibition dedicated to one of Portugal’s greatest modern painters, whose legacy continues to shape Portuguese and European modernism. The exhibition runs from 4 February to 14 March 2026.
(Painting at top: Antroopomorfismos, 2005, acrylic on canvas)
Curated by Alexandra Silvano, the exhibition brings together 94 original works — including paintings, drawings, and studies — tracing the key phases of Nadir Afonso’s extraordinary career. Among them are seven large-scale canvases created in the final years of his life, a powerful reminder of the creative vigor and intellectual clarity that never left him.
The geometric city stands at the heart of this exhibition. For Nadir Afonso, urban landscapes were not merely physical spaces but conceptual territories — abstract visions governed by harmony, proportion, and universal laws. His cities are imagined rather than constructed, distilled into rhythmic compositions of color, line, and geometry that feel at once mathematical and poetic.
Born in Chaves and trained in architecture in Porto, Nadir Afonso’s early career took him into the orbit of modernist giants such as Le Corbusier and Oscar Niemeyer. Yet he famously rejected architecture as an art form, choosing instead to devote himself fully to painting. Integrated into the abstract, geometric, and kinetic avant-gardes of European modernism, he went on to develop a singular visual language — one marked by rigorous structure, aesthetic reflection, and a lifelong pursuit of order and balance.
Territory of Absolute Freedom proposes a journey through this creative universe, revealing a body of work that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant.
For more information, visit the SNB website.
Sociedade Nacional de Belas-Artes
Rua Barata Salgueiro, 36
Lisbon
Phone: +351 213 138 510
Entrance: Free
Hours:
Monday to Friday – 12:00 to 19:00
Saturday – 14 to 19:00