Fernando Lanhas
Porto, Portugal, 1923. Died in February 2012.

Fernando Lanhas was a relevant name in the Portuguese art history, mainly related with the emergence of abstractionism in Portugal, in the late 40s. He was the author of "02-44 or Violin", considered an abstract work of reference, and represented the Portuguese country in Venice Biennale (1954) and São Paulo Biennial (1955, 1957, 1959, 1961 and 1975). He was one of the most active artists of "Os Independentes", a group of sculptors, painters and architects who organized exhibitions around abstraction, in Porto. In 2001, Museu de Serralves had organized a retrospective of his work.

Lanhas had a unique practice of painting, related with his curiosity towards the unknown and deriving from his exploratory experiences. Having architecture as profession, the artist brought to art many other interests: poetry, archaeology, astronomy, ethnology, geology, palaeontology or collecting. The pictorial work is formed by watercolours, serigraphs, collages, woodcuts and paintings on pebbles. Drawing was also a medium which accompanied his practice. 

Solo Exhibitions (selection)
2023
Birth centenary, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Porto.
2011
Galeria Quadrado Azul, Porto, Portugal.
2010
Galeria Quadrado Azul, Lisbon, Portugal.
2009
Fernando Lanhas, Parar…Pensar…Sentir, ARGO – Associação Artística de Gondomar, Gondomar, Portugal.
Group Exhibitions (selection)
2012
The Art of Weaving – Tradition and Modernity, São Paulo, Brazil.
shapes and forces, Galeria Quadrado Azul, Porto, Portugal.
Awards
2005
Doutor Honoris Causa, Doutor Honoris Causa, Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
2002
Prémio consagração de Artes Plásticas CELPA – Vieira da Silva, Portugal.
1998
Prémio Seiva, Prémio Seiva, Portugal.
1997
Grande Prémio Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso, Portugal.
1989
Medalha de mérito de Ouro da Câmara Municipal do Porto, Golden merit medal, Câmara Municipal do Porto, Portugal.
1949
Prémio Nacional de Desenho Marques de Oliveira, Portugal.
Collections
Fundação de Serralves, Portugal.
Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Portugal.
Museu do Chiado, Portugal.
Ministry of Culture, Portugal.
Ministry of Finance, Portugal.
Untitled, 2012. Tripthych in oil on canvas 
Noite, 085-06. Oil on canvas. 140 x 100 cm 
Penedo branco, 084-06. Oil on canvas. 115,5 x 89 cm 
Sol, 2006. Oil on canvas. 100 x 150 cm 
Untitled, O74-95-05. Oil on canvas. 130 x 97 cm 
Untitled, O69-57-04. Oil on canvas. 140 x 100 cm 
Untitled. Oil on canvas. 100 x 70 cm 
Untitled, O62-54-03. Oil on canvas. 120 x 100 cm 
Untitled, O65-03. Oil on canvas. 150 x 100 cm 
Untitled, 044-70. Oil on wood. 40 x 100 cm 
Untitled, 1953. Oil on platex. 40,5 x 32,5 cm 
Untitled, 1951. Collage 
Untitled, 1950. Collage. 48 x 69 cm 
Untitled, 1949. Oil on platex. 65 x 65 cm 
Untitled, 1949. Oil. 71 x 85,5 cm 
Catarina, 1945. Oil. 83 x 66 cm 
Menina e barco, 1943. Oil on canvas. 47,5 x 47,5 cm 
Navio castanho em fundo verde, n.d. Oil on platex. 71,5 x 70,5 cm 
Untitled. Painted stones. Several dimensions 
Retrato de Maria Luísa, 27.04.1949. Oil on cardboard. 31,5 x 37 cm