Sombra em Clave de Sol

Tapestry production in Portalegre only began in 1946 on the initiative of two friends, Guy Fino and Manuel Celestino Peixeiro, who hoped to revive the tradition of hand-knotted Portalegre carpets. The first tapestry thus appeared the following year, in 1947.
«Portalegre tapestries are woven by hand on vertical looms. This technique differs from the French one in that it consists of a simple crossing of the threads from the warp and those from the weft, while in the Portalegre technique the decorative weft completely involves the warp’s threads, leading to a density that can vary from 2,500 to 10,000 stitches/dm2.» (on the issue brochure “Tapeçarias de Portalegre”).
Each Portalegre tapestry reproduces an original on a different support and scale. «But more than a simple reproduction, tapestry is also, on its own, an original work of art for its qualities.» (Ibidem). At Guy Fino’s invitation, the artist Lourdes de Castro produced her first tapestry, “Sombra em Clave de Sol”, at the Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre in 1984, which was later acquired by CTT Correios de Portugal. Lourdes de Castro’s collaboration with the Manufactura went beyond merely transferring an idea onto the cartoon. She was closely involved in the production process and expressed this learning in the way she conceived her cartoons. The tapestry is currently part of the exhibition “O Ponto e o Píxel” at the Museu da Tapeçaria de Portalegre – Guy Fino. www.mtportalegre.pt