The Azorean Spirit: The Art of Domingos Rebêlo

In a career spanning more than 60-years, Domingos Rebêlo (1891-1975) created thousands of works of art that reflected his Portuguese identity and culture and honored his Azorean roots. Rebêlo belongs to the first generation of Portuguese modernist painters.

While he dreamed of exhibiting his works for Portuguese emigrant audiences abroad in the United States, he never had a show for American audiences during his lifetime. The Azorean Spirit: The Art of Domingos Rebêlo is the first international exhibition of this artist’s work to be presented in the United States. Organized by his grandson and researcher, Jorge Rebêlo, the exhibition brings together over fifty paintings and works on paper from collections in continental Portugal and the Azores. This will be the seminal exhibition on the artist.

Rebêlo studied art for six years in Paris, France in the early twentieth century, meeting significant European modernist painters, poets, and collectors. Rising tensions in Europe before the outbreak of WWI prompted him to return home to the Azores and the island of Sao Miguel, where he found inspiration in depicting life on the islands, including fishermen, religious scenes, and family. Rebêlo would remain devoted to picturing domestic scenes in the Azores and Portugal for the rest of his career.

Exhibition Catalog

The Azorean Spirit: The Art of Domingos Rebêlo is accompanied by a 250-page, full-color, hardcover exhibition catalogue with seven scholarly essays by Portuguese and American scholars, as well as a foreword and introduction, and artist chronology.

To purchase the catalog from the NBWM Store, click here.