Government decrees 1 day of national mourning for the death of Manuel Cargaleiro, an “immortal” master who left “peacefully”
The painter and ceramist Manuel Cargaleiro, a major figure in national culture, died this Sunday, in Lisbon, at the age of 97. In statements to the Lusa agency, the woman, Isabel Brito da Mana, only said that Manuel Cargaleiro “died peacefully, surrounded by his. He fell asleep”. The government declared national mourning for the day of Cargaleiro’s funeral.
The news of Cargaleiro’s death was announced this morning by the Presidency of the Republic. In a note published on the website, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed his regret, evoking the importance of this “Master†.
“Having lived in Paris since 1957, Manuel Cargaleiro never let cosmopolitanism mean uprooting. Proof of this is the memory of the images and colors of Beira Baixa in his work, namely the memory of patchwork blankets; Proof of this is also the artist’s committed presence in the region where he was born, through the Foundation and the Cargaleiro Museum”, reads the President’s message.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who decorated Cargaleiro, in 2017, with the Grand Cross of the Order of Infante D. Henrique and, in 2023, with the Grand Cross of the Order of Camões, also recalled that the plastic artist â €œhe left his signature on churches, gardens or metro stations, and on countless pieces as geometric and chromatic as those of other cosmopolitan artists who lived in Portugal”, adding: “For this reason, having been away for decades, he continued to feel, and we continued to feel like him, a Portuguese artist”.
In turn, and equally expressing “deep regret†at the departure of a “multifaceted artist†, Prime Minister LuÃs Montenegro announced that the Government will approve the declaration of national mourning on the day Manuel Cargaleiro’s obsequies take place.
In a statement, LuÃs Montenegro describes Cargaleiro as a ceramist and painter who “dominated color and geometry in a striking way, giving contemporary Portuguese art an unmistakable trait. The Prime Minister also says that Manuel Cargaleiro’s creations, throughout the career of this “man of the world”, “always expressed his poetic vision of the world, building a legacy recognizable for several generations ions of Portuguese†.
NUNO BOTELHO
Another reaction of regret from the Government to the death of Manuel Cargaleiro came from the Minister of Culture. Dalila Rodrigues describes him as an artist whose “intense artistic activity translates into an essential legacy for Portuguese art”.
“Represented in national collections, including the State Contemporary Art Collection, and international ones, his work was recognized and honored, having been decorated as Commander of the Military Order of Santiago da Espada de Portugal, Degree of Officier des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by the French government, Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, Grand Cross of the Order of Infante D. Henrique, Medal of Cultural Merit, Grand Vermeil Medal, Grand -Cross of the Order of Camões”, recalls Dalila Rodrigues.
Master Manuel Cargaleiro
NUNO BOTELHO
Pedro Nuno Santos, the general secretary of the PS, also lamented the death of the plastic artist. “An unavoidable name in Portuguese culture, Master Cargaleiro was not only a great ceramicist and painter, but an innovator, with deserved international recognition. He, who said he liked to live discreetly, left his artistic mark on different media, in various points in Portugal and abroad. A tile panel on the Amalfi Coast and the decoration of one of the central stations of the Paris metro are some examples. Paris was the city he went to live in the décor. each of 1950, due to differences with the Estado Novo, which prevented it from carrying out the project of decorating the walls of the University City, despite being the winner of the competition”, wrote the PS leader in a statement. “The visual artist who says he likes other people’s paintings, unlike others who only like theirs, has foundations and museums in Portugal and Italy. In Castelo Branco, the Foundation is headquartered Manuel Cargaleiro, which houses his valuable collection of paintings and ceramics. In Seixal there is a museum designed by the architect Siza Vieira.” And he adds: “To paraphrase a phrase by Paul Klee that Cargaleiro quotes in an interview with the newspaper Público – “There are lines of sadness, lines of joy, lines of happiness” – we can say that today we write lines of sadness for the death of a great visual artist who left us many lines of joy and happiness.” And he concludes: “In my personal name and that of the Socialist Party, I express our deep regret for the passing of Manuel Cargaleiro, paying tribute to him and conveying our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”
The visual artist was born on March 16, 1927 in Chão das Servas, in the municipality of Vila Velha de Ródão, in the district of Castelo Branco. And it was there, in Castelo Branco, that the Manuel Cargaleiro Foundation was inaugurated in 1990, later expanded with the respective museum.
Thus, due to Manuel Cargaleiro’s connection to the district, the president of the Municipal Council of Castelo Branco regretted his death. “Today is a day of grief, of sadness and it is also a day that serves to reflect on the meaning of life“, he told the Lusa agency Leopoldo Rodrigues, guaranteeing that Cargaleiro “He will continue among us, immortal, because his work is so extraordinary that no one will be able to forget it.”.
The mayor of Castelo Branco stressed that the municipality will declare, on Monday, municipal mourning for the death of the plastic artist, who was “a major figure of national culture and Albicastrense culture†. “As president, I have to recognize what the master gave to the city and the municipality with his presence and also with the delicate and very close way in which the master followed everything that was happening at the foundation and in the museum.” , said Leopoldo Rodrigues.
