Fernando Lanhas died at the age of 88

© Alfredo Cunha/Global Imagens

The Portuguese painter and architect Fernando Resende da Silva Magalhães Lanhas, died today in the city of Oporto. He was 88 years old.

Born in Oporto in 1923, he studied architecture at the Escola de Belas-Artes do Porto (Fine Arts School of Oporto), where still during his stay he organized some of the Independet Exhibitions (Exposições Independentes) shown in Oporto and other major cities in the country.

Fernando Lanhas was considered the introducer of geometric abstractionism in Portugal. In 1945 he starts exhibiting some of his abstracts, a tendence that would determine the future Independent Exhibitions. He would even give a technical designation to his paintings: "O10-50" e "O42-69."

As and architect, he was responsible for the remodelling of the museums of Paços de Ferreira, Paredes, Figueira da Foz, and of the military museum of Oporto.

He also worked in the fields of astronomy, anthropology and ethnography. He was appointed director of the Museu de Etnografia do Porto (Ethnography Museum of Oporto).

In November 29, 2005, he was awarded the Honoris Causa by the Faculdade de Belas Artes do Porto.

Fernando Lanhas was a coleague of Júlio Pomar, Manuel Pereira da Silva and Nadir Afonso. His work is represented in the famous tapestries of Portalegre.

Fernando Lanhas. In Infopédia [Em linha]. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003-2012. [Consult. 2012-02-05].