Miguéis (Alfredo Vital)
Biography of Alfredo Vital Miguéis (1883–1943), a Funchal-born painter trained under Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro in Lisbon and in Paris, who taught at industrial schools and whose works entered the national museum of contemporary art.
He was born in this city on 28 April 1883. He began his artistic education at the Funchal Industrial School (Escola Industrial do Funchal) and, having enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1889, completed his course in history painting there under the illustrious painter Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro in 1911. During the course he won prizes several times and obtained a medal on completing it. In 1914 he sat the competitive examination for teachers of the Industrial Schools; in 1915 he was appointed teacher at the Setúbal Industrial School and in 1917 transferred to the Funchal Industrial School.
In 1912 he passed the competition for the Valmor Prize for a scholarship abroad, leaving that year for Madrid and later settling in Paris, where he remained until 1914 studying and perfecting his art.
He first showed his work at the exhibition of the National Society of Fine Arts in Lisbon in 1910, and also took part in the exhibitions of 1911, 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1919, winning an honourable mention, three third-class medals and, in 1916, the second-class medal. He was admitted to the Paris Salon in 1913, 1914 and 1922. He held exhibitions of his work in Funchal and Setúbal, and was one of the exhibitors at the First Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture held in this city in 1922.
His paintings Jardim do Luxemburgo (1915), A Taça de Leite (1916) and Torre de Jesus em Setúbal were acquired by the State for the National Museum of Contemporary Art. He died in Funchal on 9 July 1943.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 06-
Alfredo Vital Miguéis was born in Funchal.
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Alfredo Vital Miguéis completed his history-painting course at the Academia Real de Belas Artes.
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The architect won the Valmor scholarship and went to study in Madrid and later Paris.
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Alfredo Vital Miguéis was transferred to the Escola Industrial do Funchal.
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The First Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture was held in Funchal, with Alfredo Miguéis among the exhibitors.
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Alfredo Vital Miguéis died in Funchal.
Place
Places mentioned · 05
Abroad
- Funchal
Birthplace and place of death of Miguéis, where he taught and exhibited.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Lisbon
Portugal. Seat of the Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes where he exhibited.
The Portuguese capital, seat of the Relação court and of the Misericórdia whose privileges and statutes were extended to Funchal. Henrique Franco de Sousa studied at its Royal Academy of Fine Arts, and Luiz José Baiardo moved there in 1821.
- Madrid
Spain. Where Miguéis went first as a Valmor Prize scholar in 1912.
The Spanish capital, where the Conde da Ega served as Portuguese ambassador and other Madeirans served at the Portuguese legation. Franco de Sousa and Miguéis went there in 1912 on the Valmor grant, and Dr Jacinto António de Sousa visited it for its scientific establishments.
- Paris
France. Where Miguéis studied until 1914 and exhibited at the Salon.
The French capital, where Franco de Sousa settled and painted 'Ar livre', and where Juvenal Honório de Ornelas took his medical doctorate in 1834. Padre Luiz Gonçalves da Câmara studied there and met Loyola, and the Barão de Ornelas graduated, practised and died there.
- Setúbal
Portugal. Mainland city where Miguéis taught from 1915 and held an exhibition.
Setúbal is a mainland Portuguese city and port, ranked just above Funchal among ports. It was the birthplace of Bishop D. José da Costa Torres and of D. Patrício Xavier de Moura. Alfredo Miguéis taught there, José Cupertino de Faria and Aníbal Álvares da Silva lived there, and Manuel Gomes Ferreira was fortificador there.
People
People mentioned · 02- Alfredo Vital Miguéis1883–1943
Madeiran painter, born and died in Funchal, who studied in Lisbon, Madrid and Paris and taught at the industrial schools of Setúbal and Funchal.
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Distinguished Portuguese painter under whom Miguéis completed his course in history painting in 1911.