Maria Ines Ribeiro da Fonseca (1926 - 1995)

Maria Ines Ribeiro da Fonseca

Maria Inês Ribeiro da Fonseca, also known by her pen name Menez, is a Portuguese artist who played a pioneering role in the development of abstract art in her country.

In her earliest works, Menez demonstrated a poetic sensibility that clearly reflected the influence of the famous Paris School, and adopted a distinctive form of lyrical abstraction that had a great influence on the artistic era. In the late 1950s, the artist skilfully transformed the ambiguity between figuration and abstraction in her vivid chromatic atmospheres, delving into a Neo-Impressionist perspective that skilfully suggested inner space.

In the 1980s, Menezes, in her deeply individual manner, gracefully overcame the paradigm shift that led to the revival of figurative painting, firmly establishing her unique artistic language to which she remained faithful to the end.