This publication, whose motivation arises while the painter was still alive, was born from the desire to map and get to know all the works that Júlio Pomar produced in the public space. In order to fulfill the purpose, it was necessary to establish a route of visits to the places where the artist had public interventions – which in some cases led Júlio Pomar to review and be surprised by works that he had practically forgotten about.

The first visit – I can reveal it here – was to the panel on Avenida Infante Santo, which had just been restored by the Lisbon City Council team. This visit, accompanied by the CML Councilor for Culture, Catarina Vaz Pinto, and the restoration team, was a source of enthusiasm for everyone, including the artist, who observed the panel with great astonishment and admiration. That moment began the journey through the route traced, which grew as Júlio Pomar was invited to make new interventions.

Of the works he carried out in public spaces, or in places that the public can visit, with the Atelier-Museum already in operation, there are: the ceramic panel of the Museu da Cerveja (2013); the atrium of the D. Maria II National Theater (with Henrique Cayatte) (2014); the ceramic panel of the Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau (2015); the portrait of Champalimaud, at the Champalimaud Foundation (2016); the ceramic panel Participation in the Lisbon Municipal Assembly (2017) and an installation at the entrance of the Fidelidade building – Chiado 8, all in Lisbon.

The curiosity that “bitten” the painter and the Atelier-Museum team took us to the places where he had public interventions, to discover the state of the works, and even their existence, which in some cases was already doubted, as it was the case of the 1950s sculptural intervention on the main façade of the old Pontinha Market, and the twelve stained glass windows of the Sagrada Familia Church, from 1954, in the same location. [Sara Antonia Matos]