João Marques Pinto, first president of Fundação de Serralves, died

Morreu João Marques Pinto, the first president of the Serralves Foundation and “one of the most striking figures in the history of the institution.” The news was revealed in a statement from the Board of Directors of Serralves sent this Monday, July 20, to the essays.

In the note, in which “we deeply regret death” it is remembered that João Marques Pinto was “President of the Foundation’s Board of Directors from its inception in 1989 to 2000, and subsequently Chairman of the Founders’ Board”.

“João Marques Pinto was one of the great creators and builders of the Serralves project, maintaining to date an active link to the institution as a member of the Board of Founders and Founder Patron”, is highlighted.

“ Portuense with cosmopolitan vision, great leadership capacity and deep conviction in the transforming role of Art and Culture, led the realization of a pioneering project in Portugal: an independent institution of international vocation, based on an innovative partnership between the state and civil society“, notes the Foundation, pointing out that “under its presidency the institutional and cultural bases of Serralves were laid, its model of civic and mecenatic participation was consolidated and the Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by Álvaro Siza and inaugurated in 1999

“ His legacy remains alive in everything that Serralves is today”

In the same statement, the Fundação de Serralves highlights that João Marques Pinto “knew how to gather people, wills and institutions around an ambitious vision for portuguese culture, and in particular for Contemporary Art”. “ He did so with determination, intelligence, elegance, diplomatic capacity and an unwavering sense of public service”.

“ When he completed his term of office, Serralves was already an institution open to the world, internationally recognized and prepared to continue to grow”, is also considered.

And continues: “His legacy remains alive in all that Serralves is today: in its heritage; in the independence and ambition of the institution; in its relationship with the founders, patrons, artists and the public; and in the conviction that Culture is essential to the construction of a more free, more developed and more human society”. 

In 2014, the Serralves Foundation “borrowed him a public tribute of recognition for the decisive role he played in the creation and affirmation of the institution” and, “five years later, in 2019, his extraordinary contribution to the country was also recognized by the President of the Republic, with the award of the Order of Infante D. Henrique“.

“The Serralves Foundation today pays tribute to one of the great responsible for the realization of a project that has forever transformed the Portuguese cultural panorama”, concludes the note, pointing out that “João Marques Pinto will remain forever in the history and memory of Serralves.”