Michael Barrett, born in Paris in February 1926, was the son of an English mother and a French father. He lived in Portugal for most of his life, choosing Cascais and Aveiro as his favorite cities to reside for extended periods of time. According to the gallerist José Sacramento, Michael Barrett was an "artist who established himself, throughout his career, as an expressionist painter." "His works express brilliance, movement, attractive chromaticism, technical refinement from many years of experience and constant study." A self-taught painter, Barrett was an admirer of Picasso and Matisse, and had a long exhibition journey beginning in 1954 and ending in 2004. Notable solo exhibitions include the 1967 exhibition at SNBA in Lisbon, the 1970 exhibition at Galeria Diário de Notícias, the 1971 exhibition at Galeria do Casino Estoril, the 1972 exhibition at Palácio Foz in Lisbon, and the 1986 exhibition "Controversial Portraits of Fernando / Portraits of the Impossible" at CROVAM in Ílhavo, which was attended by the then President of the Republic, Mário Soares. Among the numerous collective exhibitions that began in 1955 at the Sociedade de Propaganda de Cascais, many participations in exhibitions and shows at Galeria do Casino Estoril (Autumn Salon and Spring Salon), Salão Luso-Espanhol (Embassy of Spain, 1970), MATUR (Madeira, 1971), Galeria "A Grade" and Galeria "Sacramento" (in Aveiro, in numerous shows), the I Exhibition of Portuguese Contemporary Art (Rio de Janeiro, 1985), and commemorative exhibitions of the 500 years of the discovery of Brazil in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro (1989) and São José dos Pinhais, Paraná (1989) stand out. He passed away on May 6, 2004.