The Abel Salazar House-Museum is located in Quinta da Devesa, in São Mamede de Infesta, Matosinhos, on a site of great historical value. The building is located along the route of an ancient Roman road and on the pilgrims' route to Santiago de Compostela. It is a typical “Brazilian turn-of-the-century house”, an architectural style characteristic of the dwellings built by Portuguese emigrants returning from Brazil in the 19th century, which replaced an old manor house from the Modern Period. The chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Presentation still stands today, preserving part of the site's historical identity.
The long-term exhibition at the Abel Salazar House-Museum brings together a vast array of objects that bear witness to the multifaceted life of this remarkable scientist, artist and thinker. Among the items on display are personal objects, works of art, including drawings, paintings, engravings, sculptures and hammered copper, as well as scientific papers, books and other writings. These elements reflect the versatility and genius of Abel Salazar, one of the most striking figures in the history of the University of Porto. The space not only preserves the memory of its former inhabitant, but also promotes knowledge of his work and the impact he had on both academia and society in general.
Ground floor
On the first floor of the Abel Salazar House-Museum there are some works on display that set the tone for what can be found during your visit. It is also on this floor that you can find the old chapel from the 18th century.
Small sculptures, drawings and some of Abel Salazar's first oil paintings are on display in the entrance hall of the Casa-Museu. They are landscapes of Minho, portraits of the countryside and the villages of Guimarães.
In the old 18th-century chapel, around which the house was built, you can see some busts - faithful portraits of friends and family - and a unique set of hammered coppers, the technique and quality of which is unparalleled in Portuguese art. The photograph of the crowd in the funeral procession arriving at the Prado do Repouso cemetery in Porto in January 1947 documents an impressive display of popular respect and admiration for the personality of Abel Salazar, which even the fascist regime in power could not contain.
1st floor
On the first floor, three rooms recreate the environment in which Abel Salazar lived. The Atelier, Living Room and Dining Room retain the furniture and layout of the time and today house part of Abel Salazar's artistic and literary work. The Atelier houses a significant number of paintings.
In the Atelier, a significant number of paintings, from different phases of her career, depict working women at fairs and markets and the daily work of coopers, charcoal burners and milkmaids.
The first paintings of male figures appear in the Living Room. Unlike the women, who appear anonymously in most of the drawings and paintings, the men represented are friends or people Abel Salazar admired. This is the case with Dr. Santos Silva, António Luís Gomes, Henrique Pousão and Guerra Junqueiro, whose oil portraits can be found on the walls of this room, alongside paintings of bourgeois women and some family members. Two shelves contain several volumes of the vast bibliography published by Abel Salazar on the most varied subjects and copies of catalogs of exhibitions in which the Master participated. An old accountant deserves to be highlighted for his artistic appropriation of the stains and veins in the wood, transformed by Abel Salazar into subtle feminine forms.
The Dining Room retains the original layout and furniture used by Abel and Zélia Salazar, his wife. The bourgeois woman, represented by elegant Parisian figures, also appears on the walls of this room, as well as the Master's family crest, reproduced on the chairs that surround the table.
2nd Floor
The 2nd floor consists of the Scientific Hall, the Press Room, the Engraving Room and Abel Salazar's room.
In the Scientific Hall, Abel Salazar's laboratory utensils, scientific articles and histological drawings are on display, as well as other documents connected in some way to his work as a researcher.
Abel Salazar's humorous side can be seen in the Press Room, with an exhibition of a considerable sample of caricatures of teachers and colleagues and one of the many charades with which he liked to surprise family and friends.
In the Engraving Room, etchings, drypoints and monotypes are displayed, resulting from intense work around the different printing techniques, developed on the presses displayed in the center of the room. Countless copies of newspapers and magazines, kept in this room, remind us of Abel Salazar's activity as a collaborator in a combative press interested in the intellectual and social problems of his time.
On the second floor there is also the bedroom with the original furniture, lit by a copper lamp made by Abel Salazar himself.
Outdoor Space
In the external area of the Abel Salazar House-Museum, in addition to the garden that surrounds it, we can find the Calouste Gulbenkian Pavilion, where various activities take place.
At the Calouste Gulbenkian Pavilion, opened in 1975 and located in the CMAS garden, educational workshops, conferences, colloquia, book launches, music concerts, among other cultural events, are held. Through temporary exhibitions, new values in the national and international artistic scene are promoted and renowned names in painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, among other contemporary artistic expressions, are exposed.
