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University of Porto Famous Alumni

Acácio Lino

Retrato de Acácio Lino Acácio Lino
1878-1956
Painter, sculptor and professor



On 25th February 1878, the 7th son of Rodrigo Pereira da Costa Magalhães and Maria do Carmo Pinto de Carvalho was born, at the rich Casa da Pedreira, in S. Salvador de Travanca, Amarante.
At a very early age, when he was only six years old, Acácio showed his genius and coined his artistic name.
In her autobiography, his primary school teacher, Raquel Adília de Magalhães, wrote that when she asked him his name for the school registers, he replied he was called "Acacinho", as his mother tenderly called him. However, as she found the name too short, she added her boyfriend’s name, Lino, and her surname, Magalhães, to it. Since then, the young student and artist started using the name Acácio Lino de Magalhães.
At the age of nine, he used to draw on squared paper. Later, taught by his professor Luís Coelho, he started stump drawing on the page overleaf. He used to paint flowers and fruits.
At the age of twelve, after he took his school exam, he moved to Porto, where he lived with his brother, Albano, a lawyer with an office in Rua de Santa Catarina. At the Colégio de Nossa Senhora da Lapa, he develped a taste for craion drawings. He then used to draw portraits, influenced by the 'Charivari' newspaper. At the S. Carlos school, he dedicated further to drawing.
To improve his art, Albano hired Professor Marques de Guimarães to tutor him on Sunday. Thus, besides attending school, Acácio also attended his master’s workshop, in Rua Passos Manuel, and the Historical Drawing and Sculpture classes.

Mestre Marques de Oliveira

He then met several artists, including Almeida e Silva, Manuel Moura, Frade, Tomás Moura, Cândido da Cunha, Silva Carvalho, Lago Pinto, Alberto Sousa Pinto and Marques de Oliveira, with whom he was friends.
His father, who had dreamt of his being a Medical Doctor, realised he would fail his expectations when he learnt that his son, who was then attending the 5th year of Historical Drawing, wanted to study Fine Arts. This news truly upset him, so that he decided to cut his son's monthly allowance, who, in the meantime, registered in Painting and Sculpture at the Porto Academy of Fine Arts.
Lacking his father’s financial support, Acácio apparently sold craion portraits to pay his current expenses, including his stay at the Senhora Clara hostel, in Rua de Santa Catarina. He also received offers from friends and relatives, which he didn’t know were his father’s.
Together with a group of colleagues, he established a study centre of living model - the "Centro do Julinho" - in Rua do Dr. Alves da Veiga, where he tutored Marques de Oliveira for free.
When he was a third year student of Historical Painting, he applied to the national funding in Paris. However, he failed. Constantino Fernandes was the student selected. The following year, he was the only one who applied, and he obtained the grant with the painting "Camões junto ao túmulo de Natércia". To celebrate the event, his colleagues organised a dinner at the "Vidal & Constantino" restaurant, in Porto, which Marques de Oliveira, Teixeira Lopes, José de Brito and Oliveira Alvarenga also attended. His female colleagues, who were unable to attend this celebration, decorated his room with violets.
In April 1904 he departed to Paris, where he met again his colleague Constantino Fernandes, and visited museums, such as the Louvre. In April 1904 he departed to Paris, where he met again his colleague Constantino Fernandes, and visited museums, such as the Louvre. From his masters Jean–Paul Laurens and Fernand Cormon, he inherited his taste for historical painting. He got on with artists from different nationalities and fellow countrymen, such as Marques de Oliveira and Malhoa, and gained some success. His portrait of the Brazilian painting Moura Teles was admitted to the Salon.
In 1906 he returned to Portugal, where he was welcomed enthusiastically by the fine arts students. He then returned to Paris, and from Paris he departed to Switzerland and Italy. After his return, he taught drawing at the Alexandre Herculano school for a while, but he pursue all his career as a teacher at the Porto Fine Arts School. In 1912 he was nominated interim teacher of the Historical Drawing course unit, and later became its sub-director.
In parallel with this activity, he had a workshop in Travanca, where he searched for inspiration in the bucolic rural world of his childhood. On hollidays, he used to work at the Casa das Figueiras.

João das Regras - Pintura de Acácio Lino, da Câmara Municipal do Porto Pintura Mural da Sala Acácio Lino, na Assembleia da República

He stood out as an author of naturalistic and historical painting, even though he has also painted portraits and depicted religious events. His canvases can be found in Portuguese museums and other organizations, public and private, such as: the S. Bento Palace (Acácio Lino Room) and the Military Museum, in Lisbon; the Porto Public Municipal Library, the Porto City Hall, the Soares dos Reis National Museum, the Congregados Church and the S. João National Theatre, in Porto; the Malhoa Museum, in Caldas da Rainha; the Amadeo de Souza Cardoso Museum and the Acácio Lino Museum House, in Amarante. But he also worked on sculpture. His most representative sculptures include the busts of Soares dos Reis, António do Lago Cerqueira, Ciríaco Cardoso and his wife Dina, and the medal of Mestre José de Brito.
Admired by colleagues and students alike, he was paid homage several times during his life, including the book O Livro de Ouro - Homenagem ao pintor Acácio Lino or the celebration of his retirement, in February 1948, after 36 years of teaching, when he was awarded the title of 'Comendador' of the Order of Christ. He has also been awarded the Medal of Honour of the Portuguese Society of Fine Arts, in 1927, the 'Comenda' of the Order of Sant’Iago da Espada and the Medal of Gold of Artistic Merit - City of Oporto, in 1940 and 1941.

Amuada - Pintura de Acácio Lino (1947)

In 1950 he wrote an autobiography in his workshop Recordando ... which was dedicated to his nephews and nieces, since he and Dina, who died in 1948, did not have any siblings.
He died on 18th April 1956, at the age of seventy-eight, in his house, in Largo Soares dos Reis. His funeral procession took place the following day, and the funeral service was held in Igreja do Bonfim. The body was then carried to the S. Salvador de Travanca cemetery.
(Universidade Digital / Gestão de Informação, 2008)

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