''Presença - Folha de Arte e Crítica'' (lit. "Presence: A Journal of Art and Critique") was a Portuguese magazine published in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

from 10 March 1927 until 1940, producing a total of 54 issues during its existence.

History

''Presença'' was an influential magazine. João Gaspar Somões and Branquinho da Fonseca founded the magazine in 1927 and were its primary directors alongside

José Régio José Maria dos Reis Pereira, better known by the pen name José Régio (17 September 1901, Vila do Conde – 22 December 1969, Vila do Conde), was a Portuguese writer who spent most of his life in Portalegre (1929 to 1962). He was the brother ...

. Branquinho da Fonseca left the magazine after the 27th issue in 1930 due to concerns about creative freedom, which was seen as a reaction to Régio's increasing involvement with the publication. Starting with the 27th edition, which was published in 1930, the magazine's leadership was split three ways with the addition of

Adolfo Casais Monteiro Adolfo Vítor Casais Monteiro (Porto, Portugal, 4 July 1908 - São Paulo, Brasil, 23 July 1972) was a Portuguese essayist, poet and writer. Biography Casais Monteiro graduated in History and Philosophy at University of Porto ( Faculdade de Le ...

in 1938. The following year, the magazine's format was revised and expanded to contain more pages. The magazine briefly had an additional editor, secretary Alberto de Serpa and published two more volumes, November 1939 and February 1940. ''Presença'' was ultimately dissolved due to ideological struggles between Simões and Monteiro. Writers who were published in ''Presença'' included Adolfo Correia Rocha (later known by the pseudonym

Miguel Torga Miguel Torga (), pseudonym of Adolfo Correia da Rocha ( São Martinho de Anta, Sabrosa, Vila Real district, 12 August 1907 – Coimbra, 17 January 1995), is considered one of the greatest Portuguese writers of the 20th century. He wrote poe ...

Aquilino Ribeiro Aquilino Gomes Ribeiro, ComL (; 13 September 1885 – 27 May 1963, Lisbon), was a Portuguese writer and diplomat. He is generally considered to be one of the great Portuguese novelists of the 20th century. In 1960, he was nominated for the N ...

, Edmundo de Bettencourt,

Carlos Queiroz Carlos Manuel Brito Leal de Queiroz (; born 1 March 1953) is a Portuguese football coach who currently is the head coach of the Iran national team. He has served as the manager of his native Portugal's national team, the United Arab Emirat ...

, Júlio/Saul Diar and an entire generation of poets, prosers, pensioners and plastic artists, who would become known as “the Presença generation” or “''precencistas”''. While its emphasis on art was secondary, ''Presença'' published essays about art by

Diogo de Macedo Diogo de Macedo (Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, 22 November 1889 – Lisbon, Portugal, 19 February 1959) was a Portuguese painter, sculptor, and writer. Sculpture Sculpted, among others, the busts of: *Antero de Quental ( 1929 ) * Sara Afonso ( ...

, José Régio, and the magazine argued in support of the First Independent Salon in 1930. Numerous artists contributed to the magazine, including

Almada Negreiros José Sobral de Almada Negreiros (7 April 1893 – 15 June 1970) was a Portuguese artist. He was born in the colony of Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe, the son of a Portuguese father, António Lobo de Almada Negreiros, and a Santomean mother ...

, Júlio Diogo de Macedo, Dordio Gomes, Sarah Afonso, Arlindo Vicente, Bernardo Marques,

Mário Eloy Mário Eloy (15 March 1900 in Algés – 5 September 1951 in Lisbon) was a Portuguese expressionist painter. Eloy was born in Lisbon. His style shows the influence of painters like van Gogh, Picasso and, mostly, from the German expression ...

, João Carlos, Paulo Ferreira, Ventura Porfírio, Arpaz Szenes and

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (13 June 1908 – 6 March 1992) was a Portuguese abstract painter. She was considered a leading member of the European abstract expressionism movement known as Art Informel. Her works feature complex interiors and ...

(in 1940). França, José Augusto – ''A Arte em Portugal no Século XX': 1911-1961'' (''Art in Portugal in the 20th Century: 1911-1961''

974 Year 974 ( CMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Battle of Danevirke: Emperor Otto II defeats the rebel forces of King Harald I, who ha ...

Lisbon: Bertrand, 1991, p. 551 Presenca

Editorial line

''Presença'' defended the creation of a freer and more lively style of literature, opposing academism and routine journalism. It prioritized critique, prizing the individual over the collective, inner psychology over the social aspect, and intuition over reason. Presenting artists from the magazine ''Orpheu as “masters”'' (many of whom also contributed to ''Presença)'', ''Presença'' was critical in developing a second phase of

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

, which was to be more critical and theoretical than its predecessor. This critical spirit came from the magazine's founders and from Albano Nogueira and Guilherme de Castilho, who were significant contributors to the magazine's doctrine, alongside José Bacelar, José Marinho, Delfim Santos, Saul Dias, Fausto José, Francisco Bugalho, Alberto de Serpa,

Luís de Montalvor Luís de Montalvor (January 31, 1891 – March 2, 1947) was a pseudonym of Portuguese poet and editor Luís Filipe de Saldanha da Gama da Silva Ramos. He founded the reviews ''Orpheu (review), Orpheu'' (modern Portuguese spelling: ''Orfeu'') 'O ...

Mário Saa, Raul Leal and Antonio Botto. The magazine published authors associated with Modernism, such as Fernando Pessoa, Mário de Sá-Carneiro,

and Afonso Duarte, António de Sousa, Irena Lisboa,

Vitorino Nemésio Vitorino Nemésio Mendes Pinheiro da Silva (19 December 1901, in Praia da Vitória – 20 February 1978, in Lisbon) was a Portuguese poet, author and intellectual from Terceira, Azores, best known for his novel ''Mau Tempo No Canal'', as well ...

, Pedro Homem de Mello, Tomás de Figueiredo and Olavo de Eça Leal. These writers primarily contributed poetry (marked by a certain “provençal lyricism”), and were brought to the magazine by António de Navarro, who had been the director of ''Orpheu''. The poetry featured “presentists,” and was based on the text of the compositions of the Song of Coimbra and

fado Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre that can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado was ...

sung by

Amália Rodrigues Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues GCSE, GCIH (23 July 1920 – 6 October 1999), better known as Amália Rodrigues () or popularly as Amália, was a Portuguese '' fadista'' (fado singer) and actress. Known as the 'Rainha do Fado' ("Queen ...

. The magazine also republished the main works of European writers of the early 20th century including Marcel Proust,

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism ...

Paul Valéry Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, mus ...

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of t ...

and Pirandello. The magazine promoted literary exchange with Brazilian writers and poets, outside of its official initiatives.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Presenca 1927 establishments in Portugal 1940 disestablishments in Portugal Culture in Coimbra Defunct literary magazines published in Europe Defunct magazines published in Portugal Literary magazines published in Portugal Magazines established in 1927 Magazines disestablished in 1940 Portuguese-language magazines