José Dias Coelho – Militant Artist, Revolutionary Militant

In partnership with the Museum of Neorealism in Vila Franca De Xira

José Dias Coelho, plastic artist and clandestine employee at the Portuguese Communist Party, was 38 years old in 1961 when a PIDE brigade shot him dead on the old Rua da Creche, which today is named after him, in Alcântara. A short life, from an early age marked by two traits that would define his personality: a rare artistic ability and a sense of revulsion at social injustices and oppression. By the age of 13, while at still at secondary school, the unusual quality of his drawings and the expressiveness of his caricatures of classmates and teachers had already been noticed. At the time, he was living in Castelo Branco where, due to its proximity to the Spanish border, he was strongly affected by the Spanish Civil War. It is perhaps for this reason that Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica”, as well as the dove he drew for the World Peace Movement, would become important reference points for José Coelho’s artistic journey and for his political choices.