Maria Helena Vieira da Silva

(Portugal, 13/06/1908 - 06/03/1992)

The Gardens No.2 (1966)

Born in Lisbon, da Silva began studying drawing and painting at the Academia das Belas Artes when she was just 11 years old. In 1928, at the age of 20, she moved to Paris to continue her formal training, enrolling in Emile-Antoine Bourdelle’s sculpture course at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière.

It was here that she developed her unique style, combining Cubis, Futurist and Constructivist motifs to create distinct rhythms and patterns, managing to maintain a sense of deep space and perspective, even as jagged shapes fracture the picture plane. Just five years after arriving in Paris, da Silva had her first solo exhibition at the Galerie Jeanne Bucher.

In 1935, da Silva became involved in the anti-fascist group Amis du Monde that formed in Paris that same year, although, with the outbreak of war in 1939, she and her husband were forced to flee Paris, first to her native Portugal and then to Rio de Janeiro. She continued to paint throughout the War but it was not without massive impact. This is especially seen in the subject matter of da Silva’s postwar paintings which frequently depict the ruinous environment she found herself in – cities that had been burned or flooded and landscapes molded by bombs.

Returning to Paris after the war, Silva’s reputation continued to flourish. Her works became increasingly sought after by collectors and museums worldwide. Her paintings, characterised by intricate geometric patterns and labyrinthine compositions, often evoked urban landscapes and architectural forms while remaining purely abstract.

Da Silva achieved great success throughout her life, regularly exhibiting her work and winning prizes, including at the Grand Prize at the 1961 São Paulo Biennial and becoming the first woman to receive the French Government’s Grand Prix Nationale des Arts in 1966. She has also been recognised outside of the artistic realm, with the International Astronomical Union naming a crater on Mercury after the artist in 2013.

Image: Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, The Gardens No.2 (1966). Gouache on paper, 37.1 x 22.5 cm. Art Institute of Chicago, U.S.A.