The Crítical Reception of "Soirée Chez Lui (Concert of Amateurs) and the Dilemmas of Modernity (1882-1884)

Abstract

In the beginning of the 20th century, the plastic characteristics of Columbano's works gave him a singularity that was both individual and national, that is, autonomous and representative of an ideal of art, a condition that placed it above the works by the other Portuguese painters. These remained linked to a more literal interpretation of French naturalism, an aesthetic fidelity that made them, in the opinion of some of the Portuguese art critics, too uncharacteristic. A few years earlier, in 1884, when Soirée Chez Lui was presented at the exhibition of the Sociedade Promotora das Belas Artes in Lisbon, the argument was diametrically reversed. Columbano's departure from the artistic program of naturalism provoked skepticism, even among those who, from the outset, understood the meaning and possible impacts of Columbano's painting. However, despite the fact that there were parallel opposing understandings of the work Columbano at stake, the problem they posed was the same: did it materialize a modern ideal of art or was it representative of this idealization? We intend to demonstrate that the debate that took place with the critical reception of Soirée Chez Lui, both in Paris and in Lisbon, was provoked by this dilemma.