Exteriors and interiors

From the late 1940s and into the 1950s, Vieira da Silva dedicated herself to the depiction of interiors and exteriors, a selection of which is presented in this section. Here Vieira da Silva explored space, a concern since the start of her career, across forms of varying kind and depth. She created a new architecture on the surface of her paintings, which explore the immensity of spaces through color: blues, yellows, reds, and even blacks expand and contract the sometimes tight, sometimes wide weave of Vieira da Silva’s architectural imagination. Many critics and writers have remarked on Vieira da Silva’s architectural penchant, an interpretation that her husband Szenes also supported and extended to encompass urban planning. By the mid-1950s the painter of space Vieira da Silva had gained international renown, having exhibited her work in Lisbon, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Stockholm, and at the 25th and 27th International Art Exhibitions of the Venice Biennale, in 1950 and 1954 respectively.