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Maria Helena VIEIRA DA SILVA (1908 -1922)

Maria Helena VIEIRA DA SILVA (1908 -1922), painter of Portuguese origin, was born in Lisbon into a family which encouraged her interest in painting, literature and music from an early age. In 1928 she moved to Paris where she studied sculpture, but subsequently turned her attention to painting from 1929. In 1930, she married the Hungarian painter, Arpad Szenes. As a painter, she concentrated primarily on urban themes although, from early on her work reveals a concern with space and depth. She lived in Brazil from 1940 to 1947. Her work of this period reflects the anguish of the war. Upon returning to Paris during the 1950s, she took part in numerous exhibitions in France and abroad. In 1956 she took French nationality. The French State began to purchase her works in 1948 and, in 1060, she was awarded the first of seveal decorations.

From 1958, retrospective exhibitions of her work were organised and she received major international awards. In Portugal, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation exhibited her work in 1970, 1977 and 1988. In 1983, the Metropolitano de Lisboa commissioned her to decorate the Cidade Universitária metro station; her work Le metro (1940) was reproduced on tiles with the collaboration of painter Manuel Cargaleiro. The Catalogue Raisonné of her work was published in 1994. Vieira da Silva belonged to the Second School of Paris, and occupied an important place on the international art scene.

IN: Fundação Arpad Szenes: http://www.fasvs.pt/vieirada.htm

Links:

Vieira da Silva I: http://spaightwoodgalleries.com/Pages/Vieira_da_Silva.html

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vieira_da_Silva

Vieira da Silva II: http://www.answers.com/topic/maria-helena-vieira-da-silva

Fundação/Museu Arpad Szenes - Vieira da Silva: http://www.museum.com/ja/museum/id=37861