Ruy Leitão, Untitled, 1972-1973
Gouache on paper | Collection Manuel de Brito
Pop Art may seem an American phenomenon – we tend to think of comics and cartoons – but it emerged first in England with Eduardo Paolozzi before crossing the Atlantic to challenge the dominating abstract expressionists.
The current show at the Calouste Gulbenkian takes works produced in Portugal as it made this transatlantic hop, and places unknowns such as Teresa Magalhães and Ruy Leitão – a brilliant pupil of Patrick Caulfield – next to Tom Phillips and Allen Jones. Portuguese art – characterised by its mediocrity at this time – was electrified by the new iconography and the young exponents of Pop Art pushed it towards new frontiers, helping pave the way for conceptual art.
While in Lisbon, don’t miss the new £17 million Amanda Levete museum, prosaically called the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) on the Tagus waterfront. The serpentine structure rears up from the riverside at Belem and is a symbol of the boom that the Portuguese economy is currently enjoying.
From April 20th to September 10th at Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal
