Bertina Lopes

Bertina Lopes (1924, Lourenço Marques (now Maputo)–2012) studied at the School of Fine Arts in Lisbon, where she engaged with various Portuguese painters, including Carlos Botelho and Marcelino Vespeira. She returned to Lourenço Marques in 1953, where she lived for nine years teaching drawing. In 1962, she was awarded her first grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (FCG), which allowed her to study ceramics in Lisbon with Portuguese artist Querubim Lapa. Two years later, she moved to Rome with another FCG grant to continue her artistic training. She settled there permanently and later held exhibitions in Italy, Portugal, Luxembourg, Spain, Mozambique, and Cape Verde.