Sombras Brancas, 1987 is Collection CGD’s current highlight as it is on loan to the exhibition "Lourdes Castro: There is light in the shadow." The exhibition will be open at Arquipélago – Centro de Artes Contemporâneas, São Miguel Island, Azores, from September 13 to February 1, 2026. Curated by Márcia de Sousa, the exhibition was previously presented at MUDAS – Madeira Museum of Contemporary Art with a different curatorial approach, under the title "Like an Island on the Sea”, from December 2022 to October 2023. After the Azores show, this exhibition is scheduled to be held at the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon, from March 10 to April 30, 2026.

Lourdes Castro studied painting at Escola Superior de Belas-Artes in Lisbon, from which she was ousted in 1956 for refusing to conform to the academia's practices. In 1957, she left for Munich with her husband, artist René Bertholo, and soon after settled in Paris for over 25 years. In 1972 and 1979, she spent two seasons in Berlin as an artist in residence at the DAAD. In 1958, she founded the KWY group with René Bertholo, Costa Pinheiro, João Vieira, José Escada, Gonçalo Duarte, Jan Voss, and Christo. Her work, deeply rooted in the European art scene, draws originality from an association with Pop Art by using everyday materials. Her return to Funchal in 1983 marked the beginning of a period of intense collaboration with Manuel Zimbro, with whom she developed multidisciplinary projects, such as, performances, scenography, and productions, which culminated in the creation of Teatro de Sombras in 1985. The work Sombras Brancas, which is part of this poetic and sensory universe, also added to her research into how shadows materialise when cast onto white paper. This work is also a key example on a series of remarkable paintings and drawings by the artist that feature the exuberance of Madeira's vegetation and flowers. Based on a composition designed for Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre — a cardboard triptych also part of the Collection Caixa Geral de Depósitos — the artist articulates a complex visual line structure, empty spaces, and colourful patches. The range of distinct colours reveals an organic and harmonious pattern that condenses a kind of island herbarium, organic and abstract all at once.

An essential figure in the Portuguese art scene, she has held important solo exhibitions: “Shadows Around a Centre”, 2003, Museu de Serralves, Porto; “The Great Herbarium of Shadows”, 2002, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon. In 2000, together with Francisco Tropa, she represented Portugal at the XVIII São Paulo Biennial, Brazil. Throughout her life, the artist was honoured with numerous awards, which testify to the recognition and quality of her work, among which: EDP, 2000; Celpa/Vieira da Silva, 2004; AICA, 2010; Medal of Cultural Merit, 2020; and the Military Order of Sant'Iago da Espada, 2021.

Hugo Denis