These exhibitions are part of an internationalization program that is ongoing for the next three years, and which involves several partnerships with cultural institutions and experts on the painter's work, from Portugal, Brazil, France, the United States, and Morocco, among others.

"These are exhibitions in preparation for the coming years, which will represent a great effort to internationalize the artist's work and Portuguese culture," stressed the president of the Arpad Szenes -- Vieira da Silva Foundation (FASVS), António Gomes de Pinho, contacted by Lusa.

The program for the internationalization of Vieira da Silva's work until 2027 is the theme of a conference that is taking place this afternoon at FASVS, in Lisbon.

The conference addresses themes related to internationalization -- holding exhibitions and promoting research on her work -- and, "specifically, some projects in progress and others to be started," indicated the person in charge of the museum on behalf of the artist, created 30 years ago, in Lisbon, and which covers a vast period of the couple's painting and drawing production: from 1911 to 1985, for Arpad Szenes (1897-1985), and from 1926 to 1986, for Maria Helena Vieira da Silva.

"We are also preparing a presence of Vieira da Silva in the celebrations of the 100 years of the Jean Boucher Gallery, in Paris, the artist's gallery for more than 50 years, collaborating with the Luso-American Development Foundation on a project in New York, and, with a Brazilian specialist in the painter's work, we are preparing a project in Brazil," for an exhibition in a museum yet to be defined.

After holding the first exhibition of Vieira da Silva's work in an Arab country, in Morocco, inaugurated in 2023, which was on display until February of this year, FASVS is preparing "another major exhibition in the Arab world," without providing details for now.

The exhibition "Une histoire d'amour et de peinture" ("A love and painting story," in a literal translation) was on display at the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, in Rabat, with more than 90 works by the artist couple, at the invitation of the National Foundation of Museums of Morocco. A trilingual catalog is being launched today for this exhibition.

"It will be a new major project that aims to highlight the enormous relevance of Vieira da Silva's work," stressed António Gomes de Pinho, recalling that the painter was the subject of two exhibitions during the Portugal-France Crossed Season, a country where she lived for decades, after leaving Portugal to escape the dictatorship of the Estado Novo.

In Lisbon, the exhibition "A Nós a Liberdade" ("Freedom is Ours"), inspired by the name of a series of paintings from 1934, "À Nous la Liberté," with 31 works by the artist, some never or rarely seen in Portugal, is still on display in parliament, in Lisbon, until July 26, held to mark the 50th anniversary of April 25, 1974.

The 31 works, which cover a period between 1932 and 1988, come from museums, foundations, and private collections, Portuguese and foreign institutions, and evoke the idea of freedom in its broadest sense, "which was a very important value for the artist," Gomes de Pinho stressed to Lusa.

Another exhibition, with Vieira da Silva's graphic work, will be inaugurated in Caldas da Rainha on June 7, and will travel around the country under the title "Os Frutos da Liberdade" ("The Fruits of Freedom"), also part of the celebrations of the 50 years of the revolution.

The traveling exhibition includes the Casa das Memórias, in Nisa, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Viana do Castelo, the Municipal Library of Vila Nova de Gaia, and the Torre da Cadeia Velha, in Ponte de Lima, running until December of this year.

The Arpad Szenes - Vieira da Silva Museum was inaugurated on November 3, 1994, in a building in Praça das Amoreiras, ceded by the Lisbon City Council, and regularly presents exhibitions with the work of the couple or artists with whom they had some kind of friendship.

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