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A pioneering Brazilian painter and sculptor, Ione Saldanha developed a language of abstraction rooted in both modernist experimentation and the observation of nature and traditional culture. Beginning with urban landscapes in the 1940s, she moved into geometric abstraction by the 1950s and, by the late 1960s, expanded painting into three dimensions through her iconic Bambus and Ripas series. Verticality and chromatic rigor remained central to her practice, which redefined Brazilian abstraction outside of its canonical narratives. In her words, Saldanha sought to “get off the edge of the wall… to go outside, almost as a kind of greater freedom.” Her work continues to be recognized internationally, including at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024, as a vital contribution to the history of global modernism.