Maria Helena Vieira da Silva

Abstract Composition

1960

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva was born in Lisbon, Portugal. At the age of 11, she had begun seriously studying drawing and painting at that city's Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. In her teen years, she studied painting with Joseph Fernand Henri Léger, sculpture with Antoine Bourdelle, and engraving with Stanley William Hayter, all masters in their respective fields. Vieira da Silva also worked with Fauve artist Achille-Émile Othon Friesz. In 1928, Vieira da Silva left Lisbon to study sculpture in Paris but in 1929, she decided to focus on painting. By 1930, she was exhibiting her paintings in Paris that same year she married the Hungarian painter, Árpád Szenes. After a brief sojourn back in Lisbon and a period spent in Brazil during World War II (1940–47), Vieira da Silva lived and worked in Paris for the rest of her life. She adopted French citizenship in 1956. Vieira da Silva received the French government's Le Grand Prix National des Arts in 1966, the first woman to be honored with the coveted award. She was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1979. She died in Paris, France, on 6 March 1992. Her name sometimes appears written as Elena but the correct version, in Portuguese, is Helena.