Vieira da Silva, Maria-Elena

(1908-1992)

   painter

   of Portuguese origin, Maria-Elena Vieira da silva, who was born in Lisbon, settled in Paris in 1928, and, except for a brief period in Brazil during World War II (1940-47), spent most of her life in France. Vieira da silva began her art training by studying sculpture and then turned to painting, being tutored by fernand léger and roger bissière (1932). Progressively, her works lost all descriptive character and, in the late 1930s, she achieved critical recognition with semiabstract pieces, which are suggestive of landscapes reduced to geometric and linear formations. The illusion of space is achieved without traditional perspectives by utilizing flecks of color on neutral background. Her works often evoke urban spaces that employ horizontal and vertical elements to produce structured and luminous cityscapes. she also painted interior scenes (La Bibliothèque, 1949) or panoramic views with imprecise limits. Vieira da silva's graphic talent is also apparent in her engravings and drawings for the tapestries that she produced.