Eduarda Lapa

Eduarda Lapa (1895 — 1976) was a painter and painting teacher who specialized in naturalist painting, especially still life, becoming known as the "flower painter" and the "ambassador of colours". An active feminist, she was the first woman to join the board of the Portuguese National Society of Fine Arts.

Early life Maria Eduarda Lapa de Sousa Caldeira was born on 15 October 1895, in Trancoso, Portugal. She came from a middle-class family and was the daughter of Ernesto Coutinho de Vilhena de Sousa Caldeira and Laura de Almeida Lapa. At a young age, she moved to Coimbra with her parents. Having shown a considerable artistic talent, she went to Porto to study with Artur Loureiro, before moving in 1922 to Lisbon to study with Emília dos Santos Braga. However, it was Armando de Lucena in Lisbon who introduced her to naturalism, by encouraging her to draw outdoors, and to visit Lisbon's Jardim da Estrela (Estrela Gardens) for inspiration.

Between 1917 and 1928 she exhibited at several shows in Portugal, including at Trancoso, Coimbra, Lisbon, Leiria, Viseu, Porto, and, in 1928, in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The reception of her paintings by reviewers in periodicals and magazines was very positive and it was during this period that she was dubbed the "flower painter", whereas it was in Rio de Janeiro that she was called the "ambassador of colours".