Vieira da Silva

Maria Elena Vieira da Silva, French, b. 1908 ""When I paint a landscape or a seascape, I'm not very sure it's a landscape or a seascape. It's a thought form rather than a realistic form."" Thus did Maria Elena Vieira da Silva explain her approach to her art, which is almost always completely abstract. Although she was generally regarded as Portugal's greatest contemporary artist, Vieira da Silva spent six decades of her life in France, where she became a naturalized citizen in 1956. Born in Lisbon, Vieira da Silva began seriously studying drawing and painting at that city's Academia de Belas- Artes when she was only 11. At 16, she expanded her artistic interests to include the study of sculpture. Three years later she moved to Paris.