Collection

A keen observer, the variety of materials and media that Abel Salazar used are proof of his versatility as an artist. Chinese ink, charcoal or graphite, often used in combination, are revealed in hundreds of drawings of anatomy, landscape, travel, portraits, of friends, colleagues or public figures he admired, executed in a realistic or caricatural way, on papers of the most diverse types, origins and qualities, in notebooks or loose sheets, which may include details or minimal and quick schemes.

Influenced, at different stages, by Portuguese Naturalism and Impressionism, Abel Salazar sought to record the nature of the landscapes of Minho and the luminous and chromatic effects of the old markets of Porto, particularly observable in watercolor painting and, more recurrently, in oil painting. With looser, monochromatic brushstrokes, he had a preference for sketching, the “unfinished”, which focused on the creation of portraits of other artists, self-portraits and the representation of women, especially women who frequented cafés and streets in different European cities and those who worked in the city of Porto, transporting carqueja or unloading coal at the Alfândega, and for this reason he is considered a precursor of the social expression of the Neorealist movement.

In Abel Salazar's prints, landscape and portrait themes are predominant. Whether using the etching technique, drypoint or monotype, the interest was not in the virtue of the multiple reproduction provided by the technique, but in the exploration of the visual dialectic established between light and shadow, caused by the stains and lines, sometimes controlled and sometimes random. At the Abel Salazar House-Museum, in addition to the finished engravings, you can find different states of these proofs and various matrices on zinc plates.

Molded in clay and later coated in plaster or bronze, Abel Salazar's sculptures reflect his impressionist influence on painting and his ability to capture the essence of the moment through the speed of execution of his drawings. He dedicated himself to creating busts of personalities and friends, and various figures of working women. Of particular interest are his hammered, repoussé and fire-patinated covers.

Abel Salazar's hammered coppers were worked with a hammer and subjected to a patina process using fire. Some specimens have an additional finish, carried out with mordant instruments such as the dry point and the roller, designed to produce, in combination with the patina chips, effects similar to those of an etching or dry point.

The style of these forms is archaic, reminiscent of primitive hammered metals, where the hammer not only sculpts, but also paints and decorates.

The oxidation of the metal, intensified by the heat and gases generated by the fuel fire, has resulted in a color palette that includes lacquer-blacks, green-blacks, dark greenish blues, as well as bright flesh tones, which permeate the central female figures.

This fusion between hammer work, patinas and lacquers obtained by fire, and the effects derived from techniques such as etching and drypoint, is an original conception and technique by the author.

Abel Salazar's scientific activity went hand in hand with his teaching duties as Professor of Histology and Embryology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto between 1916 and 1935. He continued his research work at the Faculty of Pharmacy between 1941 and 1946, after being expelled from the chair in 1935 for his opposition to the Estado Novo regime.

Under adverse conditions, he found new biological data and made original observations, through a particular ability to assimilate problems, hypotheses and theories, and a vocation for exposing and discussing them publicly. He left behind a solid body of scientific work, including 115 notes and articles, most of them in international literature, and numerous histological drawings.

The laboratory material is part of the Casa-Museu's collection and allows for deeper knowledge about the instruments, techniques and methods used by Abel Salazar in his scientific career.

The vast majority of Abel Salazar's literary works are compilations of texts published in various periodicals, in which the scientist/artist/writer recounts his various journeys around Portugal and Europe, in a particularly expressive style of writing that tries to establish complicity with his readers and fulfil his mission of disseminating and democratizing culture. Numerous other texts of a philosophical nature, social reflection, artistic criticism or of a scientific nature complete a map of literary intentions.

The personal and institutional correspondence and photographs that are part of the CMAS collection allow for deeper knowledge and preserve the memory of Abel Salazar's unique life path and professional history.

The furniture in the CMAS, which reflects a quest to preserve historical authenticity and the framing of functional spaces, is divided into three distinct groups: the original core, dating from between 1920 and 1940, when the house was inhabited by Abel Salazar; the set introduced under the responsibility of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, which adapted the house into a museum between the 1950s and 1970s; and, finally, the furniture incorporated by the University of Porto, responsible for modernizing the exhibition equipment.

Abel Salazar's personal objects help enrich the visitor's understanding of his remarkable personality and his creative and scientific work process.

Among the cultural objects on display are the tools he used in his artistic practice, such as brushes, palettes, tubes of paint and pencils, as well as sketchbooks that reveal the genesis of his work. The permanent exhibition at the Abel Salazar House-Museum also includes personal correspondence, photographs and everyday objects.