Joseph Teixeira de Mattosartist • painterAmsterdam 1892-1971 Parijs

Joseph Teixeira de Mattos had a talent for drawing from an early age. Although he briefly trained as an art teacher, he did not complete it and considered himself self-taught. He learned mainly from Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita and Joseph Mendes da Costa, two older Portuguese-Jewish artists in Amsterdam. The latter brought Teixeira de Mattos into contact with art critic Hendrik P. Bremmer, who advised him and helped him to develop his own style. Teixeira de Mattos mainly drew and painted self-portraits, portraits of family members and cityscapes. In addition, his animal works play a prominent role in his oeuvre. He could often be found in Artis where he studied the animals extensively. In 1927 he joined the artists' association De Brug and in 1934 he joined both De Onafhankelijken and Arti et Amicitiae. When Teixeira de Mattos and his wife settled in Paris in 1938, he captured city life in many drawings. Every year, from 1929 onwards, the couple gives drawings of both Teixeira de Mattos himself and work by contemporaries they collected to the Teylers Museum for safekeeping. His work can also be found in the Kröller-Müller Museum, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Jewish Museum.