Background
Vieira da Silva was born in Lisbon, Portugal.
Vieira da Silva was born in Lisbon, Portugal.
In her teen years she studied painting with Fernand Léger, sculpture with Antoine Bourdelle, and engraving with Stanley William Hayter, all masters in their respective fields.
At the age of eleven she had begun seriously studying drawing and painting at that city"s Academia de Belas-Artes. Vieira da Silva also worked with Fauve artist Othon Friesz. In 1928 Vieira da Silva left Lisbon to study sculpture in Paris, but decided in 1929 to focus on painting.
After a brief sojourn back in Lisbon and a period spent in Brazil during World World War II (1940–1947), Vieira da Silva lived and worked in Paris the rest of her life.
She adopted French citizenship in 1956. 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".
She exhibited her work widely, winning a prize for painting at the São Paulo Art Biennial in São Paulo Paulo in 1961.
She decorated in 1988 the new Cidade Universitária subway station of Lisbon with azulejo panels. In November 1994, the Árpád Szenes-Vieira da Silva Foundation was inaugurated in Lisbon, a museum that displays a large collection of paintings by both artists.