O Gringo no Museu Nacional do Azulejo de Lisboa – 2023
O Gringo National Tile Museum of Lisbon (O Gringo Museu Nacional do Azulejo de Lisboa) is home to O Gringo’s landmark solo exhibition, celebrating Portuguese ceramic heritage through contemporary art.
What captures us is the look with which we sensed the child. Perhaps this is the quintessential nature of Bastien Tomasini, a.k.a. Gringo,a French artist who preserves within himself that substance that, in many of us, is being eroded by life. His enthusiasm has the voracity that we only find in childhood: a desire to do, to experiment, to have, a joy in creation, and a perpetual curiosity about the world. But what brings O Gringo to the azulejos?
— Alexandre Nobre Pais
Diretor do Museu Nacional do Azulejo
Exclusive interview with the former Director of the National Tile Museum about O Gringo’s landmark exhibition.
In this exclusive interview, exhibition curator Dr. Dora Fernandes explains O Gringo’s artistic vision and reveals how his work gives new life to the Portuguese tile, transforming a centuries-old heritage into a living contemporary art form.
For more than three years, O Gringo has maintained an ongoing collaboration with CERCIMA – Cooperative for the Education and Rehabilitation of Citizens with Disabilities of Montijo and Alcochete, dedicating not only his artistic talent but also his time, experience and commitment to improving the lives of people who need support the most.
A permanent documentary archive of O Gringo’s solo exhibition .
Official invitation letter signed by Dr. Alexandre Nobre Pais for O Gringo’s solo exhibition at the National Tile Museum in Lisbon, Portugal.
Official Invitation Letter from the National Tile Museum
This official invitation, signed by Dr. Alexandre Nobre Pais, former Director of the National Tile Museum (Museu Nacional do Azulejo), formally invited French contemporary artist O Gringo (Bastien Tomasini) to present a solo exhibition in Lisbon. The document explains the museum’s curatorial vision and recognizes O Gringo’s reinterpretation of the Portuguese tile (Azulejo) as a living form of contemporary art. Today, it remains an important institutional record of one of Portugal’s leading national museums.
Carta Oficial de Convite do Museu Nacional do Azulejo
Esta carta oficial, assinada pelo Dr. Alexandre Nobre Pais, então Diretor do Museu Nacional do Azulejo, formaliza o convite ao artista francês O Gringo (Bastien Tomasini) para realizar uma exposição individual em Lisboa. O documento apresenta a visão curatorial do museu e reconhece a reinterpretação contemporânea do Azulejo Português desenvolvida pelo artista, valorizando-o como uma forma de arte viva. Constitui um importante registo institucional de uma das mais prestigiadas instituições museológicas de Portugal.
Source: National Tile Museum (Museu Nacional do Azulejo), Lisbon, Portugal — Official invitation letter signed by Dr. Alexandre Nobre Pais, Director, June 30, 2022.
Official invitation issued by the National Tile Museum and the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage for the opening of O Gringo’s solo exhibition in Lisbon, Portugal.
Official Opening Invitation
This official invitation was jointly issued by the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (Direção-Geral do Património Cultural) and the National Tile Museum (Museu Nacional do Azulejo) for the opening of “Hope Beyond the Horizon,” O Gringo’s solo exhibition in Lisbon. The invitation was signed during the tenure of Dr. Alexandre Nobre Pais, then Director of the National Tile Museum and today Chairman of the Board of Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, E.P.E., the national institution responsible for managing Portugal’s museums, monuments and palaces. This document represents an important institutional record of one of the country’s leading cultural institutions.
Convite Oficial de Inauguração
Este convite oficial foi emitido conjuntamente pela Direção-Geral do Património Cultural e pelo Museu Nacional do Azulejo para a inauguração da exposição “Esperança além do Horizonte”, do artista francês O Gringo, integrada na programação oficial do Dia Internacional dos Museus. O convite foi emitido durante a direção do Dr. Alexandre Nobre Pais, então Diretor do Museu Nacional do Azulejo e atualmente Presidente do Conselho de Administração da Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, E.P.E., entidade responsável pela gestão dos principais museus, monumentos e palácios nacionais. Este documento constitui um importante registo institucional da realização da exposição numa das mais prestigiadas instituições museológicas portuguesas.
Official Opening Invitation – National Tile Museum – O Gringo Museu Nacional do Azulejo de Lisboa
Official Exhibition Catalogue
Title Hope Beyond the Horizon
Published by National Tile Museum (Museu Nacional do Azulejo) Lisbon • Portugal
Authors
Dr. Alexandre Nobre Pais
Bastien Tomasini (O Gringo)
Dr. Dora Fernandes
Kátia Guerreiro
Telmo Pires
Graphic Design
António José Cruz
Photography
Bastien Tomasini (O Gringo)
Official Exhibition Catalogue Cover – O Gringo’s Solo Exhibition at the National Tile Museum, Lisbon, Portugal
Excerpt from the Official Exhibition Catalogue – O Gringo’s Solo Exhibition at the National Tile Museum, Lisbon, Portugal
Excerpt from the Official Exhibition Catalogue – O Gringo’s Solo Exhibition at the National Tile Museum, Lisbon, Portugal
Excerpt from the Official Exhibition Catalogue – O Gringo’s Solo Exhibition at the National Tile Museum, Lisbon, Portugal
Published by the National Tile Museum (Museu Nacional do Azulejo), this official bilingual catalogue documents O Gringo’s landmark solo exhibition, bringing together curatorial essays, institutional texts, artwork documentation and historical records. It serves as a permanent archival publication preserving the exhibition and its contribution to contemporary Portuguese cultural heritage.
Opening Video of O Gringo’s Solo Exhibition at the National Tile Museum, Lisbon, Portugal.
Welcoming CERCIMA Service Users to the National Tile Museum, Lisbon
Closing Event of O Gringo’s Solo Exhibition at the National Tile Museum, Lisbon, with Fado Singer Kátia Guerreiro
Institutional Partners & Sponsors – O Gringo Museu Nacional do Azulejo de Lisboa
Institutional Partners & Sponsors
O Gringo’s solo exhibition at the National Tile Museum was held under the auspices of the Portuguese Republic, the Ministry of Culture, the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC), the National Tile Museum, and Paris 75 Image, Lda.
The exhibition also received the support of leading institutional partners, universities, cultural organizations and sponsors, including Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Vista Alegre Atlantis, Antena 1, RTP, Renascença, Turismo de Portugal, CERCIMA, Fundação INATEL, Casa da Imprensa, Riberalves, Luso Finsa, Molduras 2000, Luso Tufo, M. Gomes & Filhos, and other official partners acknowledged in the exhibition catalogue.
Parceiros Institucionais e Patrocinadores
A exposição individual de O Gringo no Museu Nacional do Azulejo realizou-se sob a tutela da República Portuguesa, do Ministério da Cultura, da Direção-Geral do Património Cultural (DGPC), do Museu Nacional do Azulejo e da Paris 75 Image, Lda.
A exposição contou ainda com o apoio de importantes parceiros institucionais, universidades, organizações culturais e patrocinadores, entre os quais a Universidade Católica Portuguesa, a Vista Alegre Atlantis, a Antena 1, a RTP, a Renascença, o Turismo de Portugal, a CERCIMA, a Fundação INATEL, a Casa da Imprensa, a Riberalves, a Luso Finsa, a Molduras 2000, a Luso Tufo, a M. Gomes & Filhos, entre outros parceiros oficiais identificados no catálogo da exposição.
Opening Ceremony Photos – O Gringo’s Solo Exhibition .
Closing Event Photos – O Gringo’s Solo Exhibition at the National Tile Museum Featuring Kátia Guerreiro
Islamic ceramic traditions bring glazed tile decoration and geometric ornamental languages to the Iberian Peninsula. The word azulejo itself has Arabic origins.
LATE 15TH CENTURY
SPAIN (Seville)
Hispano-Moorish tiles produced in Spain reach Portugal. Spanish workshops supply azulejos used in important buildings, including the royal palaces of Sintra.
LATE 15TH–EARLY 16TH CENTURY
ITALY → SPAIN
Italian artist Francisco Niculoso Pisano brings the maiolica technique to Seville, contributing to the transformation of the ceramic surface into an increasingly pictorial medium.
EARLY 16TH CENTURY
PORTUGAL → CHINA
Portuguese maritime exchanges with China open a major route for the circulation of ceramics, images and decorative languages between Asia and Europe.
c. 1520–1540
CHINA → PORTUGAL
Chinese workshops produce porcelain for Portuguese patrons, incorporating European symbols such as coats of arms, crosses and armillary spheres into Chinese ceramic production.
FROM THE 1560s
PORTUGAL (Lisbon)
Local production of majolica azulejos develops in Lisbon, allowing Portugal to transform techniques and visual languages previously imported from other European ceramic centres.
16TH–18TH CENTURIES
GERMANY (Saxony / Erzgebirge)
The Erzgebirge mining region becomes a major European source of cobalt used to produce blue pigments. Geology and mining therefore become essential elements in the history of European blue ceramic art.
LATE 16TH CENTURY
CHINA → EUROPE
Chinese blue-and-white export porcelain, including kraak porcelain, spreads throughout Europe and profoundly influences European decorative taste.
17TH CENTURY
THE NETHERLANDS (Delft)
Inspired by Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, Dutch workshops develop Delftware and transform the Chinese visual model into a distinctive European ceramic language.
LATE 17TH CENTURY
ITALY (Savona)
Italian maiolica develops its own blue-and-white vocabulary, including the tradition associated with Bianco Blu.
17TH–18TH CENTURIES
SPAIN (Talavera de la Reina / Puente del Arzobispo)
Spanish ceramic centres develop orientalising and so-called “Chinese” decorative series, creating another interpretation of the blue-and-white language circulating across Europe.
AFTER 1755
PORTUGAL (Lisbon)
Following the Lisbon earthquake and the reconstruction of the city, patterned azulejos become increasingly widespread in architectural and urban environments, contributing to their broader popularisation.
2023 — 21ST CENTURY
O GRINGO
Artist O Gringo brings this centuries-long journey into his own contemporary artistic language. In 2023, his work was presented in a solo exhibition at the National Tile Museum in Lisbon. Through his Hybrid Mixed Media practice, O Gringo combines azulejo, ceramic, stone, Fine Art paper, wood, photography, resin and painting, transforming historical references, materials and cultural encounters into a contemporary artistic narrative.
NO SINGLE COUNTRY CREATED THIS STORY. CIVILIZATIONS CREATED IT TOGETHER. Blue was never the colour of one country. It was the result of a journey.
Written by
Gusttavo Henri Borges Tomasini
Founder & CEO – Paris 75 Image, Lda. Founder – La Smart Galerie International Cultural Producer • Art Director • International Art Consultant • Fine Art Photographer
Specialized in international cultural projects, museum exhibitions, institutional partnerships and the global promotion of contemporary art.
O Gringo National Tile Museum O Gringo no Museu Nacional do Azulejo de Lisboa – 2023 O Gringo National Tile Museum of Lisbon (O Gringo Museu Nacional do Azulejo de Lisboa) is home to O Gringo’s landmark solo exhibition, celebrating Portuguese ceramic heritage through contemporary art. For more than three years, O Gringo has maintained an ongoing…
