A Forgotten Pioneer: Maria da Conceição de Lemos Magalhães and Women's Place in International Pictorialism
Presentation Type
Event
Start Date
8-3-2026 9:30 AM
Description
Speakers: Susana Lourenço Marques and Emília Tavares
This paper explores the remarkable yet overlooked photographic oeuvre of Maria da Conceição de Lemos Magalhães (1863–1949), a pioneer of pictorialism in Portugal and a rare example of a woman whose amateur practice gained international recognition in the early twentieth century. Her body of work, spanning rural and maritime themes, emerges from a sophisticated command of composition, tonality, and technical processes. A close reading of her images reveals an artist deeply attuned to the expressive potential of photography as an autonomous art form—using nature, atmosphere, and rural labour, particularly women at work, as recurring subjects to evoke poetic and symbolic resonances. Magalhães's participation in key international exhibitions, including the Salon du Photo-Club de Paris (1906), Torino (1907), Dresden (1909)—alongside her publication in European and American journals such as The Studio or Photo-Revue, underscores her insertion into global pictorialist networks. Yet, her contributions remain largely absent from canonical histories of photography. This paper repositions her within a wider, transnational history of women's involvement in shaping photographic modernism.
Susana Lourenço Marques is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto and an integrated researcher at I2ADS. With a PhD in Communication and Art, her work spans photography, visual culture, and publishing. She co-founded the independent publishing house Pierrot le Fou and has curated several exhibitions in Portugal, notably at Serralves, Fundação Eugénio de Almeida, and the Bienal de Fotografia do Porto. Her recent research focuses on women photographers in Portugal between 1860 and 1920.
Emília Tavares is Senior Curator of Photography and New Media at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Lisbon. She has curated numerous exhibitions on Portuguese photography and contemporary art, while her research and criticism have contributed significantly to the historiography of Portuguese photography. Her publications include The History of Portuguese Photography 1900–1938 and Auto-Retratos do Mundo: Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908–1942).
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Marques, Susana Lourenço and Tavares, Emília, "A Forgotten Pioneer: Maria da Conceição de Lemos Magalhães and Women's Place in International Pictorialism" (2026). Women of Photography: A 24-Hour Conference-a-thon Celebrating International Women’s Day. 20.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/womenofphotography/2026/schedule/20
A Forgotten Pioneer: Maria da Conceição de Lemos Magalhães and Women's Place in International Pictorialism
Speakers: Susana Lourenço Marques and Emília Tavares
This paper explores the remarkable yet overlooked photographic oeuvre of Maria da Conceição de Lemos Magalhães (1863–1949), a pioneer of pictorialism in Portugal and a rare example of a woman whose amateur practice gained international recognition in the early twentieth century. Her body of work, spanning rural and maritime themes, emerges from a sophisticated command of composition, tonality, and technical processes. A close reading of her images reveals an artist deeply attuned to the expressive potential of photography as an autonomous art form—using nature, atmosphere, and rural labour, particularly women at work, as recurring subjects to evoke poetic and symbolic resonances. Magalhães's participation in key international exhibitions, including the Salon du Photo-Club de Paris (1906), Torino (1907), Dresden (1909)—alongside her publication in European and American journals such as The Studio or Photo-Revue, underscores her insertion into global pictorialist networks. Yet, her contributions remain largely absent from canonical histories of photography. This paper repositions her within a wider, transnational history of women's involvement in shaping photographic modernism.
Susana Lourenço Marques is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Porto and an integrated researcher at I2ADS. With a PhD in Communication and Art, her work spans photography, visual culture, and publishing. She co-founded the independent publishing house Pierrot le Fou and has curated several exhibitions in Portugal, notably at Serralves, Fundação Eugénio de Almeida, and the Bienal de Fotografia do Porto. Her recent research focuses on women photographers in Portugal between 1860 and 1920.
Emília Tavares is Senior Curator of Photography and New Media at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Lisbon. She has curated numerous exhibitions on Portuguese photography and contemporary art, while her research and criticism have contributed significantly to the historiography of Portuguese photography. Her publications include The History of Portuguese Photography 1900–1938 and Auto-Retratos do Mundo: Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908–1942).