In tribute to the life and work of Eduardo Batarda, Collection Caixa Geral de Depósitos highlights the work Untitled,1971. Sarcastic and deeply knowledgeable of the history of painting, Batarda’s work spanned seven decades, leaving an undisputable legacy in contemporary Portuguese art.

He attended Painting at Escola Superior de Belas-Artes de Lisboa (ESBAL) between 1963 and 1968. During his military service, 1968-1971, he dedicated himself to illustrating books, including the plates for O Peregrino Blindado, published by Galeria 111. Between 1971 and 1974, he studied at the Royal College of Art in London with a scholarship from Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and was honoured with the Sir Alan Lane and John Minton awards. During this period, he was strongly influenced by British Pop culture, using techniques and methods from comics and illustration. His early works reveal divisive themes of the society of the time – such as war, sexuality, and politics – as well as literary hints and commentary on current artistic and cultural events. The artist comments ironically on this series of works from 1971 in the Outra vez não. Eduardo Batarda! exhibition catalogue – Serralves, 2011-2012: “The story of this painting and its surviving relatives is curious. It reflects confusion, hesitations, and wrong decisions. It was (were) made shortly after arriving at the Royal College of Art, after attempts (not many) to return to painting at the point where I had left it, in mid-1968 – with an injection or two of the Blind Penguin (1969/70). I was not happy with these attempts. (...) They were, apparently, caricatured versions of essential 'structures' of the pictorial surface, reinforced by hints to the physical structures of the painting, the object itself (...) I would leave the paintings behind at the Royal College (...) for someone to paint over them, but a 'friend' got them to Lisbon, where they gained a life of their own, without me, aware of their presence, recognizing or signing them – until I thought of showing them in the exhibition of CAM.

The work Untitled, 1971 is a monochromatic painting in dark red, where lines are drawn that subtly compose the image of a slightly stretched canvas. The abstract nearness is simultaneously countered by a representation of the pictorial support itself. It is in this confrontation between form and content that the painting asserts itself, constructing a politicised and astute universe, in which humour and sarcasm are striking features of his production.

Batarda taught at Escola Superior de Belas-Artes do Porto (ESBAP) between 1976 and 2008. In 1986, he received the "telegraphic" Homeostética prize and, in 2007, the EDP Prize. Two retrospective exhibitions dedicated to his work have been held: Paintings 1965–1998 , at Centro de Arte Moderna da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, 1998, and Outra vez não. Eduardo Batarda!, at Serralves Museum, Porto, 2011.

Hugo Dinis