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Small guitar by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
Sail boat by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
Study B by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
Before the Race by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
Unknown title (Boats) by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
Clown, Horse, Salamander by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
Untitled (Fiandeira) by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
The Fisherman' s Window by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
Sadnesses, Head by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
Cafés de Paris by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
Landscape by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
Brook House by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso
1887–1918 · Portugal

Amadeo De Souza Cardoso

Souza-Cardoso compressed a decade of European modernist movements into barely twelve years of painting. Cubism, Futurism, Orphism: he absorbed each in rapid succession and moved on, producing a body of avant-garde work that no other Portuguese artist of his generation matched.

Held in 4 museums[1]

Portrait of Amadeo De Souza Cardoso

Biography

He was born in Mancelos, Portugal, in 1887 and moved to Paris in 1906, where he befriended Modigliani, the Delaunays and Brancusi. He returned to Portugal during the First World War and continued experimenting with abstraction. He died in the 1918 influenza pandemic at thirty, the same epidemic that killed Egon Schiele.

Timeline

  1. 1887Born
  2. 1905Painted "Village Market in Cardoso" aged 18.
  3. 1906Painted "Amadeo and Manuel Laranjeiro" aged 19.
  4. 1909Painted "Caricature of the artist Emmerico Nunes" aged 22.
  5. 1913Painted "The kitchen in the house Manhaus" aged 26.
  6. 1914Painted "Painting (Deployment-intersection)" aged 27.
  7. 1917Painted "Untitled (Portrait of Paul Alexander)" aged 30.
  8. 1918Died

Where to See Amadeo De Souza Cardoso

4 museums worldwide.

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • Amadeo de souza cardoso artwork?
    Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso was a major figure in Portuguese modernism, participating in the Parisian avant-garde circle during the 1910s. He associated with artists such as Modigliani, Brancusi, Picasso, Robert Delaunay and Sonia Delaunay. Some considered him an exception to the natural tendencies of Portuguese art.
  • Amadeo de souza cardoso paintings?
    Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso was a major figure in Portuguese modernism, participating in the Parisian avant-garde circle during the 1910s. He associated with artists such as Modigliani, Brancusi, Picasso, Robert Delaunay and Sonia Delaunay. Some considered him an exception to the natural tendencies of Portuguese art.
  • What should I know about Amadeo De Souza Cardoso's prints?
    Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, a Portuguese artist who died young in the 1918 influenza pandemic, produced a relatively small body of work. Information specifically about his prints is scarce; however, some general context can be provided. Souza Cardoso explored various media, and his work often combined elements of Futurism, Cubism, and Expressionism. While he is better known for his paintings and drawings, he also produced graphic work, including illustrations and designs. These works show his experimental approach to art. Given the limited information, it is difficult to provide details on specific print series or techniques. However, auction records and museum collection catalogues may offer details. Catalogues from institutions such as the Art Institute of Chicago[1] and the Kunsthalle Bremen sometimes include prints. These resources could help identify and learn more about specific examples of Souza Cardoso's printmaking.
  • What style or movement did Amadeo De Souza Cardoso belong to?
    Amadeo de Souza Cardoso's career overlapped with several early-20th century avant-garde movements. Cubism began with Pablo Picasso's collages, such as *Still Life with Chair Caning*. This piece used paper and rope to challenge perceptions of reality versus representation. Fernand Léger, along with others like Marcel Duchamp, formed the Puteaux Group (or Orphism), an offshoot of Cubism. Léger's Cubism used more colour and three-dimensional forms, aiming to appeal to everyday people and reflect real life while glorifying the machine age. Italian Futurism, around 1909-1910, rejected the past and celebrated the beauty of the machine. Umberto Boccioni's *Dynamism of a Cyclist* (1913) adopted Cubist techniques to communicate movement through time and space, expressing a modern sense of energy. Cubo-Futurism also emerged in Russia, drawing from Picasso and Futurist ideas. These artists welcomed industry and sought to redefine art, connecting with leading European art centres.
  • What techniques or materials did Amadeo De Souza Cardoso use?
    Painters through the ages have used varied materials: natural and chemical pigments in fresco, egg tempera, watercolour, and oil. Contemporary materials include acrylics, household emulsions, and mixed media: a range of different materials in one work. In painting, knowledge that oil can be applied thickly in impasto, or thinly in glazes, affects our understanding of the artwork. Brushwork may be fine and disguised, or thickly applied with a palette knife, or stencilled. One artist, Alfredo De Curtis, creates his own textured panels through a unique and innovative application. He uses sand and oil-based paints. His compositions resemble wall frescoes and are sometimes reminiscent of Pompeian antiquity. His paintings are awash in muted jewel tones. The opaque meridians of light and shadow and the grainy mirage of textured surfaces create a three-dimensional quality to the images.
  • What was Amadeo De Souza Cardoso known for?
    Amadeo De Souza Cardoso, a Portuguese artist active in the early 20th century, explored styles including Futurism and Cubism. These movements sought new ways to represent the modern world, often incorporating dynamism and multiple perspectives. Italian Futurism, which began around 1909, embraced technology and speed. Artists attempted to depict movement by showing objects across time in a single image. Cubism, originating with artists like Picasso, fractured objects into geometric forms. Souza Cardoso synthesised these approaches in his own fashion. Souza Cardoso was part of a broader European search for new artistic languages. The world was changing rapidly due to industrialisation, political upheaval, and technological advances. Artists experimented with form and colour to express this new reality. Other movements, such as Constructivism in Russia and Precisionism in the United States, also adapted Cubist forms. Souza Cardoso's work reflects this period of artistic innovation and transformation.
  • Where can I see Amadeo De Souza Cardoso's work?
    Works by Amadeo De Souza Cardoso can be viewed in several museums internationally. In Portugal, the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian (Lisbon) holds pieces. In Spain, visit the Museo Art Nouveau y Art Deco (Salamanca), or the Museu d’Art Modern (Barcelona). In France, see the Musée d’Art et d’Industrie (Roubaix), the Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy (Nancy), the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris), or the Musée des Beaux-Arts (Nancy). In Belgium, visit the Brangwyn Museum (Brugge), or the Clockarium Museum (Brussels). In the United States, Cardoso's art can be seen at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (Winter Park, Florida), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Minneapolis), the Museum of Modern Art (New York), and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond). In Canada, visit the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto). In the UK, see the Bakelite Museum (Williton), the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery (Brighton), the Geffrye Museum (London), the Manchester Art Gallery (Manchester), the National Museums of Scotland-Royal Museum (Edinburgh), or the Victoria & Albert Museum (London).
  • Who did Amadeo De Souza Cardoso influence?
    Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, a figure in Portuguese modernism, moved beyond Portugal's geographical and artistic boundaries, becoming a "European painter". His work moved away from the naturalistic aesthetic that dominated Portuguese painting in the early 20th century. Instead of copying models, he used colour and brushstrokes to create a "pictorial reality". In 1953, one author considered Souza-Cardoso an exception to Portuguese art's natural tendencies. By 1959, he was considered a forerunner and role model. The New State regime saw him as introducing a Portuguese path within an international movement; his artistic career was associated with new generations of artists. Nikias Skapinakis argued for claiming Souza-Cardoso's "Portugueseness", suggesting that his ability to align with European painting's evolution was no accident. Skapinakis believed Souza-Cardoso invented a departure from naturalism, acquiring "universalism in Portugal". José Escada underlined Souza-Cardoso’s departure from naturalism.
  • Who was Amadeo De Souza Cardoso?
    Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) was an Italian artist who primarily worked in Paris. Born in Livorno, he moved to Paris in 1906, where he spent the remainder of his short life. Initially, Modigliani considered himself more a sculptor than a painter. From 1909 to 1914, he worked under Constantin Brancusi, absorbing aspects of Brancusi's style and technique, particularly direct carving in stone. He created idol-like heads and caryatids with simplified forms. One complete stone caryatid from 1912-13 survives in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He produced many drawings of caryatid figures during these years, nude females with raised arms. Modigliani likely gave up sculpture around 1915, possibly due to poverty, or because the stone dust aggravated his tuberculosis. His paintings largely date from 1916 to 1919 and often depict the human figure. He painted at least 26 reclining female nudes. Modigliani was influenced by Cubism, African sculpture, and Paul Cézanne, but developed his own individual style. He died in Paris of tuberculosis.
  • How did Amadeo De Souza Cardoso die?
    Amadeo De Souza Cardoso died in the 1918 influenza pandemic. This same epidemic also killed the artist Egon Schiele. He was thirty years old at the time of his death.
  • What art movement was Amadeo De Souza Cardoso part of?
    Amadeo De Souza Cardoso was associated with Cubism, Futurism and Modernism.
  • What is Amadeo De Souza Cardoso known for?
    Souza-Cardoso is known for producing a body of avant-garde work unmatched by other Portuguese artists of his generation. He absorbed Cubism, Futurism, and Orphism in rapid succession. His career was cut short by the 1918 influenza pandemic.

Sources

Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for Amadeo De Souza Cardoso.

  1. [1] museum Art Institute of Chicago Used for: museum holdings.
  2. [2] museum Calouste Gulbenkian Museum Used for: museum holdings.
  3. [3] museum Musée National d'Art Moderne Used for: museum holdings.
  4. [4] museum Musée Fabre Used for: museum holdings.
  5. [5] wikidata Wikidata: Q451771 Used for: identifiers.
  6. [6] book Beard, Lee, 1973- author, Butler, Adam, author; Van Cleave, Claire, author; Fortenberry, Diane, author; Stirling, Susan, author, Beard, Lee, 1973- author, Butler, Adam, author; Van Cleave, Claire, author; Fortenberry, Diane, author; Stirling, Susan, author - The Art Book_ New Edition, Mini Format Used for: biography.
  7. [7] book guggenheim-guhe00solo Used for: biography.
  8. [8] book guggenheim-museum00solo Used for: biography.

Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-07-02. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.

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