João Marques de Oliveira

João Joaquim Marques da Silva Oliveira (23 August 1853 – 9 October 1927) was a Portuguese painter in the Naturalist style.

Biography Oliveira was born in Porto. In 1864, when he was only eleven, he entered the . Five years later, he enrolled in the history painting course taught by João António Correia and graduated in 1873.

Upon his return to Porto in 1879, he worked as a free-lance artist and helped introduce the concept of plein-air painting in Portugal. The following year, he became Vice-President of the Centro Artístico Portuense, an association for the advancement of the arts modeled on the "" of Lisbon. Some of his pupils were Aurélia de Sousa and Lino António.

In 1911, he was appointed Chairman of the Board and a member of the Executive Committee for Art at the newly reorganized Soares dos Reis National Museum. In 1913, he became the Director. He reluctantly resigned all of his positions in 1926, when he reached the mandatory retirement age for public employees, and died the following year in his home city of Porto. In 1929, he was honored with a bronze bust in the , next to the Academy.

The Soares dos Reis National Museum houses his Cabeça de raparigo (Head of a girl) and Interior, Costureiras trabalhando (Seamstresses at work).