Sociedade Nacional de Belas-Artes
Portugal's oldest artists' association, showing temporary exhibitions in the great 1913 hall designed by Álvaro Machado.
National Society of Fine Arts (SNBA)
On Rua Barata Salgueiro, the Sociedade Nacional de Belas-Artes is the oldest artistic association in Portugal. Founded in 1901, it was born of the merger of the Grémio Artístico, linked to Silva Porto and the Grupo do Leão, with the Sociedade Promotora de Belas Artes, created in 1861. Its headquarters, designed by the architect Álvaro Machado and inaugurated in 1913, is an example of early twentieth-century Portuguese architectural eclecticism, neo-Romantic in expression and built with an iron-profile and masonry structure, and it offers a great hall measuring 50 by 15 metres. Masters such as Malhoa, Columbano, Veloso Salgado and Roque Gameiro taught members there free of charge, a tradition that continues in today's Artistic Training Course. Closed by the Estado Novo in 1952, the society was rescued and reopened by its members; the Association of Portuguese Architects, the Designers' Association and the Portuguese section of AICA all originated in its house. Today it hosts temporary solo and group exhibitions by Portuguese and foreign artists, as well as fairs and other cultural events, across three spaces: the Salão, the Galeria Pintor Fernando de Azevedo and the Galeria de Arte Moderna. Exhibitions are open on weekday afternoons and on Saturdays.
Located at: Sociedade Nacional de Belas-Artes
Address: Rua Barata Salgueiro, 36, 1250-044 Lisboa
Opening hours: exhibitions: Monday to Friday 12:00-19:00, Saturday 14:00-19:00 (closed on Sundays)
Phone: +351 213 138 510
Coordinates: 38.7210628, -9.1495189
Buses: 706, 709, 774, 19B, 773, 720, 727, 738, 711, 722
Tram: 24E
Metro: Avenida (Blue), Marquês de Pombal (Yellow, Blue)
Opened: 1913 (113 years)
