 Although he had no formal art training, Dacosta drew and painted from an early age.He completed his studies at the Angra High School and in 1935 left Terceira to attend the Escola de Belas Artes (School of Fine Arts) in Lisbon.Strongly opposed to the Salazar dictatorship in Portugal and horrified by the violence of the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent Nationalist victory, his painting took a menacing and surrealistic turn.