António Pedro

Who was António Pedro?

António Pedro da Costa was a Portuguese actor, writer and painter born to a prominent family from the Cape Verde Islands, son of José Maria da Costa and wife Elizabeth Savage de Paula Rosa. However his maternal grandmother was Irish and English, and he cited this influence of the "Celtic spirit" as an influence in his work. In addition because his family spoke English, and sent their children to English schools, he was able to work as a journalist with the BBC in London between 1944 and 1945.

He was one of the introducers of Surrealism in Portuguese painting, in the late 1930s. Its official start is set to be the exposition he held with António Dacosta and Pamela Boden in Lisbon in 1940.

His painting shows the influence of the great surrealist painters, that he admired, like Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst and Salvador Dalí. He was a founding member of the Portuguese Surrealist Group, in 1947, but he left painting short time after.

He dedicated himself to pottery and theater for the rest of his life.

He was also a Freemason and an active anti-fascist militant.

He married Maria Manuela Possante, without issue.