Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

I am greatly pleased to join the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Arpad Szenes-Vieira da Silva Foundation and of the 20th anniversary of its Museum.

I congratulate the team responsible for the excellent programme that is being carried out and, especially, for the exhibition which I have the honour to inaugurate today, in the presence of the exhibitor that has always promoted and dignified the work of Vieira da Silva and Arpad in the international scenery.

I closely accompanied, whilst prime minister, the process of setting up the Foundation, in 1990, the true awakening of the dream of Maria Helena Vieira da Silva and, five years later, the opening of this Museum.

The Portuguese are certainly appreciative by the painter’s choice of her Country and the city where she was born to leave her records here and install the main area dedicated to the study and disclosure of her work.

Twenty five years later, the Foundation has good reasons to be proud of the work it developed to continue and keep alive the artist’s dream.

I thus want to congratulate, in the person of its Chairman, Dr. António Gomes de Pinho, all those who made possible, and consolidated, with their drive and their work, both the Museum and the Foundation.

I would also recall, in this moment, the memory of architect Sommer Ribeiro, and to leave a word of much appreciation for all he did to carry out this project.

The number and the quality of the initiatives organized to promote the work of Vieira da Silva and Arpad Szenes, from exhibitions and other pedagogical and artistic activities, demonstrate the vitality of this institution.

Courses for young people, painter’s residences and collaboration with other national and foreign museums are proof that the Foundation was able to become integrated and interact with the community, not just exhibiting works by Arpad and Vieira da Silva but also of artists who cohabited with them.

Through the Foundation, Portugal has known how to honour the memory of the person who perhaps is the greater and internationally better known of the 20th century Portuguese plastic artists.

For this reason and as a sign of public recognition, I decided to distinguish the Arpad Szenes-Vieira da Silva Foundation as Honorary Member of the order of Prince Henry the Navigator.

Thank you very much.