Maria Elena Vieira da Silva grew up in Lisbon in contact with cultured circles frequented by her family. After studying at the School of Fine Arts in her hometown, she left for Paris in 1928. At the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, she met the Hungarian painter Arpad Szenes whom she married two years later. She followed the courses of Othon Friesz, Fernand Léger and Roger Bissière. Her first solo exhibition was held at the Jeanne Bucher Gallery in 1933. After a stay in Portugal, the couple fled to Rio de Janeiro in 1940. Back in Paris, Vieira da Silva acquired an international reputation.
