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 self. If she is not painting, she is thinking about her current or future projects. The day’s 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.

“Chenonceau” is part of Liudmila Kondakova’s chateaux series, and it truly depicts the artists love for French architecture, travel, and culture. “Chenonceau” is a Chateau located in the River Cher, near the small village of Chenonceaux in the Indre-et-Loire department of the Loire Valley. It is one of the best-known chateaux of the Loire Valley. An architectural mixture of late Gothic and early Renaissance, “Chenonceau” with its gardens was a true inspiration to Liudmila Kondakova. Kondakova’s depiction of “Chenonceau” in the fall ads true value to her color technique, which is displayed in the brown leaves, against a clear blue sky. The reflection of “Chenonceau” in the river Cher is just as masterfully done, and it creates a sense of longing to be there. “Chenonceau” is a 16 x 23 – inch, hand signed serigraph on paper.