Catarina Pratas, a Lisbon-born painter born in 1991, emerges from Portugal’s industrious graphic and fine-arts landscape with a poised commitment to drawing, painting, and the current conversations that surround them. Her biography reads like a careful itinerary of study and exploration—from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon to Paris and Seville, and back to the studio, where personal investigations have gradually expanded into a broader project addressing environmental and social issues. She is a painter who believes in the discipline of drawing as a foundation for painting, and in the persistence of study as a form of lifelong practice.
Pratas’ formal path began with a Bachelor in Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon (2009–2013), followed by an enriching Erasmus year (2011–2012) at Université Vincennes Saint-Denis in Paris. This early cross-pollination—between a traditional Portuguese art education and an international corridor of ideas—furnished a base for a refined, attentive approach to image-making. The pursuit of further mastery led her to a Master in Drawing at the same Lisbon faculty (2013–2015). In 2016, she expanded her technical horizons with a painting course at The Florence Academy of Art (April 2016) and later completed another painting immersion with Robin Eley in La Galería Roja, Seville (July 2016).
These experiences, spanning multiple European art centers, appear to have sharpened her observational sensibilities while nurturing an intimate, personal painterly language. Her early bodies of work—Project 00 and KANJI—demonstrate a nuanced, intimate approach to subject matter, where painting becomes a medium for exploring interior states and perceptual subtleties. As Pratas has evolved, she has shifted toward addressing pressing environmental and social issues, signaling a move from the personal toward a broader, more public discourse through painting. The artist remains open to commissions, balancing personal projects with the practical realities of an artist’s career in a dynamic art market.
Asked about her masters, She said: “Beyond the Renaissance masters I’ve always admired, Robin Eley was one of my first major influences—not only an exceptional artist, but also a remarkable human being. Alongside him, I greatly admire the Italian sculptor Jago, Banksy, and—in a very different but equally captivating register—the hyperrealist and playfully inventive CJ Henry. Each of them inspires me to keep pushing myself technically, while also showing how art can challenge conventions and intellectually engage its audience.”
Teaching is another axis of Pratas’ practice. In 2023, she began teaching Art Classes of Painting and Drawing at Atelier Vera Santos Silva in Lisbon, a role that not only disseminates technique but also situates her within a community of practice. This pedagogical thread complements her studio practice, suggesting a commitment to mentoring younger artists and nurturing the discernment that comes with rigorous craft.
The artist has actively participated in group exhibitions that foreground intimate formats, a tendency reflected in the collective Small Formats at Galeria Monumental in Lisbon. The year 2024 has seen her engage with more groups and collaborative exhibitions, including the Collective Artistas Anónimos in Lisbon and the 12×12 project in collaboration with Galeria Arte Graça, Lisbon, continuing the pattern of small-format exhibitions that emphasize precision, restraint, and tact—qualities often associated with a painter who values the quiet power of painted surfaces.
Pratas’ professional journey reveals a photographer’s eye for persistent inquiry and a painter’s patience for process—an artist who moves deliberately from drawing as a foundational discipline to painting as a means of addressing contemporary concerns. In Pratas’ hands, painting becomes a language through which personal memory, formal rigor, and social awareness intertwine.
“My artistic path began on a more introspective note, with a series of highly emotional paintings. Over time, however, social, cultural, and political concerns have come to the forefront of my work. These include the COVID-19 pandemic, represented in my piece 2020; the growing issue of technological addiction, particularly to social media and its impact on society; the spread of pollution and microplastics; and the urgent problem of species extinction. While my work is meant to provoke reflection on these themes, my approach is deliberately calm—the intention is to offer a sense of serenity rather than add more conflict to the world.”, she confessed.
For viewers and collectors, Pratas offers a grounded, contemplative invitation: to observe how her intimate, methodical drawing practice informs a painting idiom that can address large-scale issues without relinquishing nuance. Her trajectory—marked by rigorous study, international exposure, and a steady stream of exhibitions—positions Catarina Pratas as a vital voice within Portugal’s contemporary painting scene, one that respects tradition while stepping into the social dialogues of our time.
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