When he passed away in May 2013, and since 2009, Michael Biberstein had been working tirelessly on a project that was particularly close to his heart and which he considered his Opus Magnum – the creation of a sky for the Santa Isabel Church in Lisbon. Through numerous drawings, studies, watercolours and notes, Michael Biberstein met this challenging project with brio: the conception of a ceiling for the church upon a 1:8 scale model, presented at the Lisbon Architecture Triennial.

In order to pursue the artist’s project, the gallery organised a fundraising exhibition entitled “A Sky for Michael Biberstein” in 2014, which succeeded in raising the necessary funds thanks to the support of private and institutional sponsors. A qualified artistic committee was established to direct the projet. The first part of the completion of Micheal Biberstein’s œuvre started in January 2016. This phase is focused on the renovation of Santa Isabel Church ceiling so the painters can reproduce faithfully the drawing created by Michael Biberstein from the numerous drawings and studies left by him but also with the help of digital proves realized since 2013. Biberstein’s “Sky” of 900 m² is currently being painted in Santa Isabel Church in Lisbon. The inauguration is planned for July 2016.

On this occasion, the gallery organizes a solo show of Michael Biberstein with a selection of original drawings, rarely presented or previously unseen as they were discovered in his studio after he passed away, and publishes a catalogue dedicated to his works on paper with the collaboration of Nicholas Turner, curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum in preparation for the ûblication of the artist’s Catalogue Raisonné.