Culture
It was a favored haunt of intellectuals and academics, including Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, the writers Aquilino Ribeiro and Alfredo Pimenta. Fernando Pessoa would regularly enjoy absinthe and a sweet bica, while he continuously smoked, read or wrote.
Over its storied history and because of the initiative of José Pacheco, the walls of the Brasileira collected prominent paintings from artists. In 1925, the Brasileira began to exhibit the paintings of the new generation of Portuguese painters, that frequented the café: José de Almada Negreiros, António Soares, Eduardo Viana, Jorge Barradas, Bernardo Marques, José Pacheko and Stuart Carvalhais. These works were eventually sold to one buyer in 1969. This "museum" was renovated in 1971, with new paintings from painters of the epoch: António Palolo, Carlos Calvet, Eduardo Nery, Fernando Azevedo, João Hogan, João Vieira, Joaquim Rodrigo, Manuel Baptista, Nikias Skapinakis, Noronha da Costa and Vespeira.
A bronze statue of Fernando Pessoa, by sculptor Lagoa Henriques, was eventually placed outside the café in 1988, even though, ironically, Pessoa considered the Café Martinho da Arcada (on the Praça do Comércio (founded in 1782), as his favorite café.
The University of Lisbon's Faculdade de Belas-Artes (English: School of Fine Arts) is located within the Chiado district, and its approximately 1300 students transit the quarter regularly, competing with tourists for open-air tables.
Read more about this topic: A Brasileira
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