Martin Lawrence Galleries

Liudmila Kondakova’s first childhood memories were all bright color: reds, blues, greens, yellows, and whites. She recalls that her first persistent question to the adults around her was, “What color is this”? Painting absorbs Kondakova’s whole being. If she is not painting, she is thinking about her current or future projects. Days when she does not work, she considers lost. Liudmila Kondakova painted with egg tempera for many years. It is an unforgiving technique. If you make a mistake, you have to start over. Through this process, she learned planning and discipline, and she uses those skills to create highly detailed paintings of her favorite cities, places, and spaces. She starts painting from the farthest background area, and she works forward. From the darkest parts of the painting to the lightest, as if she is bringing her composition from darkness to light. Paris is a city that Kondakova has portrayed time and again in her work, and its architecture has inspired many of her works.

In the true fashion of a Paris lover, Liudmila Kondakova, “Bastille Day” could not go unmentioned, manifesting once again her love for all things French. Not only is Liudmila Kondakova an architectural observer of the city, but the cultural depth she displays through her paintings is astounding. In “Bastille Day” we see the Eiffel Tower into Prominence, with the magical element of the fireworks added into the artwork. The deep blue of the evening sky and the golden glare of the fountains are quintessentially romantic. “Bastille Day” or “La Fete Nationale” is celebrated in France on July 14th, and it historically signifies a turning point in the French Revolution, where the people of Paris stormed the Bastille, fearful that they and their representatives would be attacked by the royal army, or by foreign regiments of mercenaries in the king’s service. The darkens, and the emptiness of the artwork adds an enchanting element to the artwork, where the details become all about the city, and the significance of “Bastille Day” becomes more poignant. “Bastille Day” is a 9.5 x 6- inch hand-signed lithograph on paper.