"I don’t paint things, I paint spaces." M.H Vierra da Silva
Maria Helena Vieira da Silva was born on June 13, 1908 in Lisbon, Portugal, and died on March 6, 1992 in Paris, France. She studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Lisbon before moving to Paris, where she trained with Fernand Léger, Antoine Bourdelle, and Stanley William Hayter.
In 1930, she married Hungarian painter Árpád Szenès. During World War II, the couple took refuge in Rio de Janeiro, returning to settle in Paris post-war. Vieira da Silva became a naturalized French citizen in 1956.
She was awarded the Grand Prix National des Arts in 1966 and was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in 1979.