Bertina Lopes Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Bertina Lopes (1924-2012) was a painter, sculptor and activist born in Maputo, Mozambique. In his work he exemplified the social criticism and ardor for nationalism that influenced other Mozambican artists of the time. Read the full biography

Bertina Lopes (1924-2012) was a painter, sculptor and activist born in Maputo, Mozambique. In his work he exemplified the social criticism and ardor for nationalism that influenced other Mozambican artists of the time. She left her country of origin at a young age to study in Lisbon, where she became involved in contemporary global aesthetic trends and the avant-garde painting of Portuguese modernism. Cultural nationalism had a significant ideological and aesthetic impact on his output after returning to Mozambique in 1953. In much of his body of work, he depicts political events of the time as well as African symbolism. Lopes moved to Rome in 1963 and remained there for the rest of the 1960s after a turbulent and forced return to Europe.
His works from 1970 to the late 1980s allude to the serious military and economic issues that followed Mozambique's declaration of independence and the subsequent civil war that ended in 1992. The artist's work from the late 1990s to early 2000s, with the use of industrial paints, shows a remarkable abstract expressive freedom.
Bertina Lopes has won various recognitions and prizes and her works of art are preserved in numerous private and public collections. In addition to his two participations in the Venice Biennale, he has held important solo exhibitions at the FAO Global Headquarters in Rome in 1996, the Italian Cultural Center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1995 and the National Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad, in 1981 and the Museo de Fundaçao Clouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, Portugal, twice, in 1982 and 2012.