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 her art. 

In “Eiffel Tower at Dawn” Liudmila Kondakova shows us the early morning quiet of Paris. There is a beauty to be found in stillness, and how something as immobile as a building can come to life with color and light. “Eiffel Tower at Dawn”, is alive with Kondakova's signature imagery, and it invites us to witness the daily renaissance of her unique vision and beloved Paris.

In anticipation of the busy day ahead, the streets of Paris take on a life and beauty of their own.  With the only movement being a few people inside the shops and one girl bringing home baguettes for breakfast, the multitude of colors, intricacies of architecture, and burnished patina of the buildings themselves provide the drama of the foreground. In the distance, however, muted and veiled by the early morning mist, La Tour Eiffel still dominates the scene. It draws your gaze with its towering presence, dramatic history, and instant familiarity.“Eiffel Tower at Dawn”  is a 27 x 36 – inch hand-signed serigraph on linen.