Bertina Lopes Mozambican - Italian, 1924-2012

Bertina Lopes is considered one of the most important woman artists from Africa in the second half of the 20th century. Lopes was a painter, sculptor, and most importantly an activist whose work highlighted the social criticism and nationalistic fervor. She was also a great influence on the subsequent generation of African artists.

 

Born in Maputo, Lopes was the daughter of a Portuguese father and African mother. At an early age she left Mozambique to study in Lisbon where she was inspired by and engaged with the avant-garde painting of Portuguese Modernism as well as contemporary artistic international movements. After returning to Mozambique in 1953, cultural nationalism became a crucial influence both ideologically and artistically. Much of her body of work presents not only African iconography but also political events of the time. After a tumultuous and forced return to Europe, Lopes moved to Rome in 1963 where she remained for the rest of her life: during this period the subjects of African identity took on a new meaning, expressing an end to colonialism and a desire for independence.

 

Her works from 1970 until the late 1980s connote the grave economic and military problems of Mozambique's victory for independence as well as the subsequent civil war ending in 1992. From the late 1990s up to the 2000s, Lopes' work denotes a freedom of gestural abstract works and extraordinary colour, often with industrial paints. 

 

Bertina Lopes achieved significant cultural recognition and won numerous awards and prizes. In 2024, her work featured in Stranieri Ovunque - Foreigners Everywhere at the 60th Venice Biennale, marking her third particpation, and The Power with which We Leap Together: Women Artists in Spain and Portugal between Dictatorship and Democracy, shown at IVAM Valencia and CAM Gubelkian, Lisbon. Her comprehensive inclusion in the 36th São Paulo Bienal (2025-2026), with 21 paintings, demonstrates the enduring importance and legacy of this artist.

 

Other significant solo exhibitions include the FAO Global Headquarters (Rome) in 1996, the Italian Cultural Center in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) in 1995, the National Museum of Modern Art of Baghdad in 1981, the Museo de Fundaçao Clouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon (Portugal) in 1972, twice at the National Museum Maputo (1982, 2012) as well as two major retrospectives in Rome (1986 and 2002).