Born in 1910, in Setúbal, Álvaro Perdigão studied in Lázaro Lozano's studio from 1927 to 1929. In 1930 he studied at the Fine Arts School in Lisbon and a few years later at the National Conservatory (Scenography Course).

In 1929 he had his first painting exhibition at the Clube Naval Setubalense, and in the following years he developed several individual and collective exhibitions, in Setúbal, Lisbon, Coimbra, Porto and other cities of the country.

Throughout his extensive career, which takes place in Portugal and abroad, Álvaro Perdigão did not fix himself to one type of painting. He was a member of the National Society of Fine Arts and, in the 50's, he belonged to its managing bodies, as vice - president. He was also a technical teacher at the Marquês de Pombal Industrial School.

In 1950 he was invited to be Professor of Painting at the Casa Pia de Lisboa, a position he held until 1980. In 1985 he was honoured by the city of Setúbal, being awarded the Medal of Merit of the City. In the same year he also held a retrospective exhibition of 57 years of activity at the invitation of the Setúbal Museum and Setúbal City Council. In 1989 he was elected member of the National Academy of Fine Arts and honoured at the 6th Fine Arts Biennial of the "Festa do Avante", with his second retrospective exhibition. The artist used drawing, watercolour, oil, monotype, stained glass and ceramics.

Álvaro Perdigão passed away on March 10th, 1994.