Jorge Barradas

Jorge Nicholson Moore Barradas, nicknamed "Barradinhas" (1894–1971), was a Portuguese modernist painter, ceramicist, illustrator, and caricaturist, who was noted for chronicling social changes. He had a multifaceted career, establishing himself first as a humourist and in drawings for advertising, and later on as a painter. From the mid-1940s, he redirected his work, dedicating himself to ceramics and tiles. He is considered a key figure in the renewal of this field in Portugal.

Early life Barradas was born in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon on 16 July 1894. Coming from a large family of modest means, with Scottish and Irish ancestry on his mother's side, he attended the technical course at the Machado de Castro School, but did not complete his training as he wanted to pursue an artistic career. In 1911, he enrolled at the Lisbon School of Fine Arts, which he would also abandon two years later, concentrating on teaching himself, as did many other artists of his generation. Through Joaquim Guerreiro, director of A Sátira, he met many of the artists who would participate in the First Salon of Portuguese Humourists, a milestone in the development of modernism in Portugal. Barradas, then 17, was the youngest of the 28 exhibitors, which included names such as Almada Negreiros, Cristiano Cruz, Stuart Carvalhais, Emmerico Nunes, and Manuel Gustavo Bordalo Pinheiro. He participated in the second Humourists Exhibition in 1913 and in early Humourists and Modernists Exhibitions (1915, 1920, and 1924).

He exhibited solo for the first time in Vigo, Spain in 1913. In 1916 he travelled to Paris. The following year he exhibited among the artists of the Galeria das Artes, owned by José Pacheko, in the Bobone Salon photography studio in Lisbon, the first commercial art gallery in Portugal, and practically the only such gallery that that generation of modernists ever had available to exhibit in. His drawings from this period followed a modernist style with elongated figures, and use of monochrome. They were described as being very "feminine". It is said that his style oscillated between Art Deco and Aubrey Beardsley. His works included advertisements created between 1913 and 1915 for the hat shop, A Elegante, and for the Companhia Nacional de Moagem, a food producer, revamping the graphic design of the company's biscuit boxes. and illustrations in A Pátria; Ilustração Portuguesa, the Contemporânea, O Século cômico, and in the daily newspaper Diário de Lisboa. In May 1920, Ilustração Portuguesa organised a solo exhibition for Barradas at the Automobile Club of Portugal. According to José-Augusto França, throughout the 1920s Barradas stood out as one of the most important and most popular Portuguese illustrators and cover artists. and a retrospective was held in 2023 by MNAC.

Awards and honours On July 5, 1968, he was awarded the rank of Commander of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword. In 1971, Lisbon City Council named a street after him. His name was also given to the Jorge Barradas Elementary School, located on the same street. Several other streets or squares are also named after him.

Death Barradas died in Lisbon on 30 June 1971.