The Wattles Family Gallery, hosted by the New Bedford Whaling Museum, launches on March 31 the inauguration of the art exhibition “The Azorean Spirit: The Art of Domingos Rebêlo”, presenting a collection selected by one of the Azorean painters the most famous.

The event culminates one of the greatest aspirations of the famous Azorean artist, a century ago, to present his work in the United States.

Organized and curated by his grandson Jorge Rebêlo, the exhibition will bring together 71 paintings and works from private and public collections in mainland Portugal and the Azores.

Os Emigrantes / The emigrants of Domingos Rebêlo

Rebêlo belongs to the first generation of Portuguese modernist painters who had a career spanning over 60 years, creating thousands of works of art that reflected his Portuguese identity and culture and honored his Azorean roots.

A key exhibition on the artist, ‘The Azorean spirit: the art of Domingos Rebêlo‘ is the first international exhibition of Rebêlo’s work to be presented in the United States.

Domingos Maria Xavier Rebelo studied art for six years in Paris, France in the early 20th century, meeting important European modernist painters, poets and collectors. Rising tensions in Europe before the outbreak of World War I 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 will remain devoted to the representation of domestic scenes in the Azores and Portugal for the rest of his career.

‘The Azorean Spirit: The Art of Domingos Rebêlo’ is accompanied by a 250-page, full-color, hardcover exhibition catalog with seven scholarly essays by Portuguese and American scholars, as well as a foreword and an introduction, and a chronology of the artist. The catalog will be published in English and Portuguese and will be released in March 2022.

The exhibition, which was originally scheduled to open on December 3, 2021, will end on September 22, 2022.

Source: New Bedford Whaling Museum