1188. 4441339. MARIA HELENA VIEIRA DA SILVA (PORTUGAL/FRANCE 1908-1992). “Souterrain” /"Colonne”.
Description
Tempera, oil and pencil on canvas, 27 x 41 cm, including frame 35.5 x 49.5 cm. Signed and dated Vieira da Silva 50 lower right.
With stamp on the stretcher: "Tillhör Bonnierartoteket".
PROVENANCE
Galerie Blanche, Stockholm.
The Bonnier collection.
Swedish private collection, presented as a gift from the above.
EXHIBITED
Galerie Blanche, Stockholm, "Vieira da Silva", 16 September - 4 October 1950, cat. no. 24.
LITERATURE
Marcel Biron, "L'art abstrait a toujours existé" in: Plaisir de France, August 1956, illustrated.
Dora Vallier, Vieira da Silva, 1971, illustrated p. 106.
Guy Weelen and Jean-François Jaeger, Vieira da Silva, Catalogue Raisonné, 1994, no. 776.
"Souterrain"/"Colonne" from 1950 is an outstanding example of Maria Helena Vieira da Silva’s distinctive visual language, in which architectural structures, shifting perspectives, and labyrinthine compositions are interwoven into a poetic whole.
Executed during one of the artist’s most formative periods—the years following the end of the Second World War—it reflects a pivotal phase in which her artistic voice emerged with increasing clarity and autonomy. Having spent the war years in exile in Brazil, Vieira da Silva returned to Paris in 1947, where she gradually moved away from figuration in favor of a spatially driven abstraction. The late 1940s and early 1950s marked a decisive moment in her career, as she developed the intricate networks of lines, layered surfaces, and fragmented perspectives that would come to define her mature style. These compositions are neither fully abstract nor strictly architectural; rather, they are expressions of an internal geography, a visual analogue to the workings of memory and thought. It was during this period that her work began to gain international recognition, placing her among the leading figures of postwar European art.
Born in Lisbon in 1908, Vieira da Silva moved to Paris at a young age to pursue her artistic education and soon became part of the city’s vibrant avant-garde scene. She studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and worked under prominent figures such as Fernand Léger and Stanley William Hayter. During World War II, she and her husband, the Hungarian painter Árpád Szenes, sought refuge in Brazil, returning to France after the war’s end. In 1966, she became the first woman to represent France at the Venice Biennale, and her work is now held in major museum collections around the world.
In this painting from 1950, her mature style comes fully into view—a dense and contemplative visual space into which the viewer is invited to lose themselves. Vieira da Silva synthesized influences from both Cubism and Abstract Expressionism, yet forged a distinctly personal idiom often described as “mental architecture.”
The painting emanates a timeless intensity and stands as a compelling example of Vieira da Silva’s contribution to the development of modern art. It is a work that not only bears witness to the artist’s individual journey, but also to a historical moment defined by reconstruction, introspection, and a profound reimagining of abstraction.
Condition
Minor craquelures, minor and insignificant paintloss, stains and surface dirt.
For more information please contact fredrik.fellbom@auktionsverket.com.
1188. 4441339. MARIA HELENA VIEIRA DA SILVA (PORTUGAL/FRANCE 1908-1992). “Souterrain” /"Colonne”.
Description
Tempera, oil and pencil on canvas, 27 x 41 cm, including frame 35.5 x 49.5 cm. Signed and dated Vieira da Silva 50 lower right.
With stamp on the stretcher: "Tillhör Bonnierartoteket".
PROVENANCE
Galerie Blanche, Stockholm.
The Bonnier collection.
Swedish private collection, presented as a gift from the above.
EXHIBITED
Galerie Blanche, Stockholm, "Vieira da Silva", 16 September - 4 October 1950, cat. no. 24.
LITERATURE
Marcel Biron, "L'art abstrait a toujours existé" in: Plaisir de France, August 1956, illustrated.
Dora Vallier, Vieira da Silva, 1971, illustrated p. 106.
Guy Weelen and Jean-François Jaeger, Vieira da Silva, Catalogue Raisonné, 1994, no. 776.
"Souterrain"/"Colonne" from 1950 is an outstanding example of Maria Helena Vieira da Silva’s distinctive visual language, in which architectural structures, shifting perspectives, and labyrinthine compositions are interwoven into a poetic whole.
Executed during one of the artist’s most formative periods—the years following the end of the Second World War—it reflects a pivotal phase in which her artistic voice emerged with increasing clarity and autonomy. Having spent the war years in exile in Brazil, Vieira da Silva returned to Paris in 1947, where she gradually moved away from figuration in favor of a spatially driven abstraction. The late 1940s and early 1950s marked a decisive moment in her career, as she developed the intricate networks of lines, layered surfaces, and fragmented perspectives that would come to define her mature style. These compositions are neither fully abstract nor strictly architectural; rather, they are expressions of an internal geography, a visual analogue to the workings of memory and thought. It was during this period that her work began to gain international recognition, placing her among the leading figures of postwar European art.
Born in Lisbon in 1908, Vieira da Silva moved to Paris at a young age to pursue her artistic education and soon became part of the city’s vibrant avant-garde scene. She studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière and worked under prominent figures such as Fernand Léger and Stanley William Hayter. During World War II, she and her husband, the Hungarian painter Árpád Szenes, sought refuge in Brazil, returning to France after the war’s end. In 1966, she became the first woman to represent France at the Venice Biennale, and her work is now held in major museum collections around the world.
In this painting from 1950, her mature style comes fully into view—a dense and contemplative visual space into which the viewer is invited to lose themselves. Vieira da Silva synthesized influences from both Cubism and Abstract Expressionism, yet forged a distinctly personal idiom often described as “mental architecture.”
The painting emanates a timeless intensity and stands as a compelling example of Vieira da Silva’s contribution to the development of modern art. It is a work that not only bears witness to the artist’s individual journey, but also to a historical moment defined by reconstruction, introspection, and a profound reimagining of abstraction.
Condition
Minor craquelures, minor and insignificant paintloss, stains and surface dirt.
For more information please contact fredrik.fellbom@auktionsverket.com.
This autumn’s major international auction at Stockholms Auktionsverk, The Modern Art & Design Sale, brings together the most significant works in modern art and design – from the early 20th century to the present day. Here, artistic masterpieces and timeless design meet in an auction that spans the entire modern century – from Yves Klein, Andy Warhol, Fernand Léger, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Einar Jolin and Peter Weiss to Josef Frank, Erik Chambert, Axel Einar Hjorth, Wiwen Nilsson, Wilhelm Kåge, Birger Kaipiainen and Märta Måås-Fjetterström.
Important information regarding your purchase:
On Friday November 21st all items will be transferred to Artmove, Frihamnsgatan 58, 115 56 Stockholm. No collection is possible this day.
Please note that collection is not available at Nybrogatan on this day. Items can be collected from Monday, 24
November, during Artmove’s regular opening hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 8:30 AM – 4:45 PM,
Wednesday 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM, and Friday 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM. For inquiries, please contact mail@artmove.se
or +46 8 450 44 60.
