Vieira da Silva

Maria Helena Vieria da Silva was born in Lisbon in 1908. She died in Paris during 1992. In 1919 she begins to study painting with Emília Santos Braga and Armando Lucena. In 1924 she takes classes on Artistic Anatomy at Lisbon’s Fine Art School. During 1928 she goes to live in Paris where she studies sculpture with Bourdelle, at “La Grande Chaumière” Academy, until she starts classes with Despiau. She studies painting with Dufresne, Waroquier e Friez, participating in a Exhibition at Paris’ “Salon”. She meets Hungarian painter Arpad Szenes, whom she marries in 1930. In 1935 António Pedro organizes her first exhibition in Portugal. During the second World War after a short stay in Portugal she goês to Brasil where she lives until 1947. At Rio de Janeiro she paints, teaches and shows her work. By that time Vieira da Silva starts to be known as one of the most important names in her times. The French government buys from her “La Partie d'Échecs”, one of her most famous paintings and the important museums in Contemporary Art get her work. She works in tapestry, stained glass, and engraving. She makes illustrations for books and sceneries for the theatre. In 1954 she wins a contest for a tapestry for Basel’s University and in 1962 the first prize at São Paulo Biennale. The following year she receives the national Arts Award in Paris. She shows all over the World. In 1988 Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the “Centre National des Arts Plastiques” organize both in Lisbon and Paris (Grand Palais) a very important exhibition. That same year “Museu Nacional do Traje” in Lisbon organizes a tapestry exhibition where several of Vieira da Silva tapestries are shown. In 1991, at the occasion of a large retrospective exhibition at Juan March Foundation and a exhibition at Europália, in Brussels, the was granted the title of “Officer of the Legion of Honour” by the French Government. Her collaboration with the Portalegre Tapestry Manufacture dates from 1967 and lasted until her death.