Born in Travanca, Amarante, on 25 February 1878, Acácio Lino Magalhães went to Porto to attend the Liceu Central. When he had finished, he enrolled at the Academia Portuense de Belas Artes, with Aurélia and Sofia de Sousa as fellow students. As a student at the Academy, he took part in the exhibitions organised there by “students considered worthy of distinction”. At the Academia Portuense he was a disciple of Marques de Oliveira.
In 1904 he left for Paris as a state pensioner, where he continued his studies with Jean Paul Laurens and F. Cormon. Cormon. From there he often sent artworks to be exhibited at the Academia Portuense. In Paris he had contact with Constantino Fernandes, Alves Cardoso, Sousa Lopes, João da Silva and Simões de Almeida (nephew). After his stay in the city, he travelled to Italy.
On his return to Porto, he applied for the position of Professor of Historical Painting at the Academy, where he began a long teaching career, leaving as a retired professor. Author of a vast body of artwork, he distinguished himself above all as a landscape painter, a painter of rustic scenes and an animalist. He was a sober interpreter of portraiture, of which he has a vast gallery.
Acácio Lino dedicated himself to large historical compositions, showing a concern for historical rigour. His favourite themes were the great dramas of Portuguese history: the artist is the author of the famous painting “O Grande Desvairo” (The Great Insanity) (from Porto City Hall), which depicts the tragedy of Pedro and Inês. He decorated the Artillery Museum (1907) and the National Assembly Palace (1921 – 1922). In Porto, in collaboration with José de Brito, he painted the ceiling of the S. João National Theatre.
In Portugal, Acácio Lino exhibited regularly from 1910 at the salons of the Porto Fine Arts Society and others, such as the Silva Porto Salon, receiving the Gold Medal for Artistic Merit from the City Council. In Lisbon, he won the Medal of Honour at the National Fine Arts Society, exhibiting “Moleirinhas da Minha Aldeia” and was consequently appointed professor at the National Academy of Fine Arts. The artist also received the Commendation of the Order of Santiago de Espada. In 1943, the National Society of Fine Arts organised an exhibition in his honour. Acácio Lino died in Porto in 1956.
Images
Arrancada (Snatch), Acácio Lino, 1928 @Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis
Palhaços Músicos (Musical Clowns), Acácio Lino, 1903 @Museu Nacional Soares dos Reis