Álvaro Lapa was a Portuguese painter and writer. He was one of the greatest names of contemporary Portuguese painting. His work throughout times demonstrated a strong relationship between literature and painting.
Background
Lapa was born in Évora, Portugal, on July 31, 1939. At the age of eight he was separated from his family after his father was arrested. This tragic event forced his mother and his two younger siblings to move to Barreiro, where she had found work, while Álvaro Lapa was left in the care of his godparents.
Education
In 1950 Álvaro Lapa started his studies of painting with artist António Charrua, improving his Drawing grades. In the 6th and 7th form, he was taught under the guidance of Vergílio Ferreira, a writer. He was the person to led Álvaro Lapa to write poetry. In 1956 he completed his secondary education. The same year he settled in Lisbon.
For two years Lapa attended the Faculty of Law, published a text on Kafka and took part in an "Art Mission" in Évora. There he came into contact with abstract expressionism. Quite soon he abandoned Law and decided to study Philosophy during the period of 1960-1962, meanwhile he traveled to Paris in 1961.
Career
It was in the year of 1962 that Álvaro Lapa started to paint with his friend Joaquim Bravoa and teach Portuguese at the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre. That year he also met the artist António Areal, who influenced him greatly. He was removed from his position in 1963 on suspicion of being a leftist activist.
In 1964, he had his solo exhibition for the first time, which was held at the 111 Gallery, in Lisbon. From then on, Lapa exhibited his art on a regular basis in the Portuguese artistic circle. The following year Álvaro Lapa moved to Lagos, where he lived until 1970, resuming his life with the sculptor and friend João Cutileiro. He made a trip to Scandinavia in 1970, where he had an opportunity to try new forms of art. In 1971 he travelled across Europe and the North of Africa and after his trips Lapa returned to Lisbon.
In the year of 1972, Álvaro Lapa wrote about Joaquim Bravo, in Lagos and in Évora. In 1973, tortured by some mental problems, he found support in his friend Cutileiro and painter Maria José Aguiar, who advised him to go to Porto. In 1974, he writes "Raso como o Chão", "Barulheira" in 1976, and "Porque Morreu Eanes" in 1977.
In 1976, Lapa resumed his career as a teacher, first at the Preparatory School of Póvoa de Varzim, and later entered as an assistant professor at the Porto School of Fine Arts, where he taught the discipline of Aesthetics. In 1983 Álvaro Lapa met José-Augusto França, who guided him in his doctoral thesis on Surrealism in Portugal, and the following year he got acquainted with the poet and artist António Dacosta. In 2003, Lapa was responsible for the decoration of the Odivelas Metro Station, in Lisbon.
Álvaro Lapa was a creative and free man, philosopher and self-taught artist who dedicated his whole life to Painting and Art, two inseparable and complementary activities in his work.
Connections
Álvaro Lapa separated from his first wife, Maria Helena Azevedo, in 1971. Together they had three sons, Hugo, Frederico and Raúl, and one daughter, Sofia. His second daughter Violeta was born in 1980, and in the following year he married her mother, Maria José Aguiar.