João Saldanha
A “dream come true” is the way that Portuguese artist João Saldanha described his reaction to the news that 12 of his “Macau GP Legends” collection paintings would soon be featured at the recently revamped Macau Grand Prix Museum.
Without giving away too many details, the artist told the Times that 12 of his works from the series would soon be displayed at the museum, fulfilling a long-held dream. In fact, Saldanha described this dream to the Times back in 2019 during an exclusive interview.
At the time, Saldanha told the Times that to exhibit in the new Macau GP Museum would be a lifetime achievement.
“So, it seems that the dream did come true,” Saldanha said, adding, “12 paintings from the Macau GP Legends series will go to the GP Museum.” The artist said that some of the works were still in Macau, in the possession of family members, after being exhibited in Macau in 2016 and 2017.
Another four that were in Lisbon, in the artist’s possession, are currently on the way to Macau.
While details are yet to be unveiled by the Museum, the artist said that the Museum officials reached out in May this year after several attempts and negotiations began.
The final works to be on display are also yet to be unveiled, but it is expected that among them would be some of the most popular paintings featuring Eduardo de Carvalho (the first GP winner), Michael Schumacher (F3 winner 1990), and Hans Stuck (the 1983 Guia Race winner), among others.
To the Times in a previous interview, Saldanha expressed the idea of a collection featuring the legends of local GP. He is a motorsport fan, and so also a longtime connoisseur of the famous Guia Circuit, and most of the big names of international motorsports have raced and won in Macau over the years.
“My idea was always to produce a series of paintings showing some of the most relevant moments (and personalities) in the history of the Macau GP that could be shown to the public, preferably during the event,” he told the Times. Among these personalities are legendary names such as Teddy Yip and Ayrton Senna da Silva, among others.
