Maria João Allen Gamito was born in Beira, Mozambique in 1962 of Portuguese parents. Her family returned to Portugal four years prior to the fall of the Portuguese dictatorship when she was nine. A self-taught oil painter, Maria João began painting formerly in her late 20’s while maintaining a career in tourism. By her mid-30’s she was curating, marketing and promoting her solo exhibitions, and garnering media attention for her near sell-out shows. In 1999, she participated in a workshop facilitated by the renowned French abstract painter, Jean Pierre Vieville. However, Mr. Vieville respectfully declined to teach Maria João academic painting techniques, remarking that as an ambidextrous painter who demonstrated outstanding natural talent, she had created a style uniquely hers. In 2000 Maria João was selected by Joan Semmel, the celebrated American artist to participate in her painting course at the International Academy of Art, Salzburg, Austria. Ms. Semmel commented that she had chosen Maria João because the fluidity of her brush strokes, subject matter, and extraordinary sense of color reminded her of Georgia O’Keeffe. To date, Maria João has sold – unagented – over 300 paintings to corporations, individuals and art collectors throughout Europe, entertaining and captivating her buyers and audiences with her live “double-handed action paintings.”
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