Horizonte 1 Painting

João Leal was born in Lisbon, Portugal, where he grew up, studied and currently lives and works. Architect by profession, from an early age he dedicated himself to painting and photography as complementary disciplines to his artistic expression. In the early years of his interest in painting, João Leal was deeply influenced by the European impressionists painters like Claude Monet and others. At that time, essentially inspired by the natural beauty of landscapes, he was compelled to photograph, draw or paint what most touched his sensibility. More recently, Inspired in the american abstract expressionism (especially: Clyfford Still, Joan Mitchell and Mark Rothko), he is working in larger, minimal and modern abstract paintings, but searching once more for the sensations and emotions that beauty, balance, delicacy and harmony provoke. "My work is a study. Not about painting technique, but about looking. Color, size and position, balance and beauty is what interest me the most". " I work to achieve to a certain result, independent of technique or material, of being figurative or abstract style, of whether it is a painting, installation or photograph". His work is present in several private collections in Portugal, Germany and France. Instagram