José Vital Branco Malhoa (Portuguese, 1855-1933)

Malhoa was at the forefront of the Portuguese Naturalist painting movement in the latter half of the 19th century. He often painted scenes from daily life, exemplified here in this painting of a woodcutter taking a rest at the edge of the forest. Malhoa always remained faithful to the Naturalist style, but in some of his works there are Impressionist influences.
He saw at the end of his life, the inauguration of the José Malhoa Museum, in Caldas da Rainha.