Nadir Afonso

Nadir Afonso Rodrigues (1920, Chaves - 2013, Cascais) graduated in Architecture from the Escola Superior de Belas-Artes in Porto. In 1946, he studied painting at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and through Portinari, he received a scholarship from the French government. Until 1948 and again in 1951, he collaborated with architect Le Corbusier, particularly on the project for the Radiant City in Marseille, and spent some time working in the studio of Fernand Léger. From 1952 to 1954, he worked in Brazil with architect Oscar Niemeyer. In that year, he returned to Paris, reconnected with artists focused on kinetic art, and developed his studies on painting, which he called "Espacillimité." At the forefront of world art, he exhibited in 1958 at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles with "espacillimités" animated by movement. In 1965, Nadir Afonso permanently abandoned architecture; aware of his social misfit, he gradually withdrew into great isolation and focused exclusively on the creation of his work.