Poet Alberto de Lacerda's Collection and Transatlantic Life Featured in New York Exhibition

From April 6 to June 18, 2011, Poets House in New York City presented "Insolent Grace: The Transatlantic Life of Alberto de Lacerda," an exhibition drawn entirely from the poet's estate. Born in Portuguese Mozambique in 1928, Lacerda spent most of his working life in London while regularly traveling between England and America, where he taught at universities including Boston University and Columbia University. The exhibition showcased his eclectic international collection, featuring works by Portuguese artists Vieira da Silva and Paula Rego, with drawings and prints spanning from 1943 to 1997. Lacerda's wide-ranging connections included artists like David Hockney, R.B. Kitaj, Patrick Caulfield, and Henry Miller, as well as writers such as Octavio Paz, Martha Graham, and Stephen Spender. His first book, 77 Poems, was translated with sinologist Arthur Waley, and he introduced Fernando Pessoa to the English-speaking world. Lacerda moved to Austin in 1967 to teach at the University of Texas before returning to London, where he died in 2007 at his home on Prince of Wales Drive. The exhibition included ephemera like a luncheon seating plan by Dame Edith Sitwell and a telegram inviting him to dine with T.S. Eliot and William Walton. Part of his private collection had been previously exhibited at the Gulbenkian in Lisbon in 1987.