She was born in
Porto,
Portugal, the youngest of seven children to Portuguese emigrants António Martins de Sousa and Olinda Peres. The family lived in
Brazil and Chile before moving back to
Porto,
Portugal in 1869. They lived in the Quinta da China near the
Douro River in a home bought by her father before he died in 1874, when she was four years old. She was sister of the painter
Aurélia de Souza. She began taking lessons with António da Costa Lima. She began studies at the Fine-Arts Academy of Porto, where she was a pupil of
João Marques de Oliveira, who greatly influenced her style. In 1898, she moved to
Paris to study painting at the
Julian Academy, taking courses with
Jean-Paul Laurens and
Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant. She held her first exhibition, then traveled in Europe in the next three years, before finally returning to Portugal in 1901. She died in Porto in 1960. Her painting was of a personal and naturalist style, at times with
Realism,
Impressionism and
Post-Impressionism influences. Her subjects included
portraits,
landscapes, and scenes of everyday life. She is most famous for her "Self-Portrait", painted in 1900. File:"De castigo" - Sofia Matins de Sousa.jpg|
In punishment File:Baronesa de Nova Sintra.jpg|
Portrait of the Baroness of Nova Sintra, c. 1900 File:O Areinho - Sofia Martins de Sousa.jpg|
The Areinho Beach File:Portão da Quinta da China.jpg|
Gate of Quinta da China File:Rapariga de Avintes.jpg|
The Girl of Avintes File: Windmill in the Netherlands, by Sofia Martins de Sousa.jpg|
Windmill in the Netherlands ==References==