15-10-2025
Photo: João Lima/NOVA FCT
Frieze London, one of Europe’s most prestigious contemporary art fairs, is showcasing a series of previously unseen works by Portuguese artist Helena Almeida, recently studied by a research team from the Department of Conservation and Restoration at NOVA School of Science and Technology | NOVA FCT. The works are being presented by Galeria Francisco Fino in the Frieze Masters Spotlight section, from 15 to 19 October.
The photographic pieces on display, created in the aftermath of the Carnation Revolution between 1974 and 1980, exemplify Almeida’s distinctive mixed-media technique combining photography, drawing, horsehair, and paint. Most of these works remained in the artist’s studio and, it is believed, some have never before been shown publicly. In preparation for the exhibition at Frieze, a team of NOVA FCT researchers conducted, for the first time, an extensive material and conservation study on a representative selection of the artist’s photographic works, establishing new approaches to their conservation, restoration, and exhibition—key steps in safeguarding these complex and challenging artworks.
Researchers Élia Roldão, Joana Sobral, Ana Rosalino, and Susana França de Sá analyzed the materials and techniques used, surveyed other works from the same period, and interviewed several members of Almeida’s professional circle. The study offered deeper insight into the artist’s creative process and produced a detailed diagnosis of her works, identifying light, relative humidity, and mounting as the most problematic factors in their degradation. Other conservation challenges stem from the diversity of materials and their potential interactions, which can cause alterations over time.
The diagnosis made it possible to identify the types of photographic paper, inks, and mounting systems most often used by Almeida, establish safe conservation and restoration methods, recover the aesthetic integrity of the works, and develop a set of best practices for their display — including the artist’s own preferences for presentation in galleries and museums. The main findings were published in a scientific article.
This study emerged from close collaboration between academia, a gallery, a framing and mounting company, and a museum, and allowed, for the first time, the examination and analytical characterization of the constituent materials of around twenty mixed-media photographic works by Helena Almeida. The results were crucial in understanding the artist’s production techniques and her intentional selection of materials—from photographic papers to mounting and framing systems—based on the aesthetic explorations she pursued throughout the 1970s. This characterization was instrumental in defining appropriate conservation, restoration, and exhibition strategies, helping refine existing practices across public and private institutions. The research also filled a significant gap in the technical and methodological knowledge surrounding the characterization, preservation, and display of such works, marking it as truly pioneering.
The Helena Almeida exhibition, presented by Galeria Francisco Fino, is on view at Booth S24 in The Regent’s Park, within the section of the fair dedicated to great masters of the visual arts. More information about the exhibition can be found here.
Press
Inéditos de Helena Almeida a partir de hoje na feira de arte Frieze em Londres, RTP
Inéditos de Helena Almeida a partir desta quarta-feira na feira de arte Frieze em Londres, Observador
