This year, Vera Bondare is completing her master’s studies at the Latvian Academy of Art. Earlier, she had also studied for several years at the studio of artists and teachers of painting Lyudmila Perets and Alexander Pakhomov. Her paintings can already be found in different private collections, not only in Latvia, but also abroad, in countries such as Russia, Great Britain, the USA, Greece, China.
The talent and the creative potential of Vera Bondare has been highly assessed by Latvian painter and art theorist Vladimir Kozin, who has been the head of the department of painting and composition at the Latvian Academy of Art for almost 40 years.
“Vera has an eye for colour and plein air. She has reached a good level in her etude works. Her paintings are expressive, colouristically harmonious and transfer the state of nature. Vera has the skills to search for and find artistic images in the nature and in a man. Such qualities initially provide an opportunity to become a real artist. Vera has everything for this - her school, capabilities and skills,” said Vladimir Kozin about the painter’s art.
Whereas, Vera Bondare states, “For an artist, it is certainly important to study. And an artist will always find an object for studies. The most important thing is to have good teachers nearby, and to have a sense of taste and observation skills, mental alertness, moral power and backbone and a readiness to keep perfecting one’s capabilities. Your teachers can also be your colleagues, paintings of great masters from museums and nature itself - life is pulsing through, and it has to be noticed, getting the essence and expressing it in such a way that it becomes interesting and new.”
Among her favourite artists, there are Mikhail Vrubel, Valentin Serov, Jean-Édouard Vuillard, Janis Valters, Albert Marquet, Samuel John Peploe, Pierre Bonnard. But, when talking about it in a broader aspect, the works of every good artist have a certain zest and can also be used for inspiration,” said Vera Bondare.
The exhibition in Rietumu Gallery is open on weekdays from 9.00 to 18.00 up to 28 June.
As always, admission is free. Address: 7 Vesetas Street.
This year, the jury allocated financing to eight Latvian churches from different regions of the country.