You can see the work of our unmistakable artist at the new exhibition of the Lomnica Gallery in Tatranská Lomnica.

At a unique moment, the First Lady of the Tatras is married to the First Lady of Fine Arts of Orava - Maria Medvecka.

Painter of Orava, national artist, Mária Medvecká was born in the first year of the First World War – in 1914 in Medvedzie near Tvrdošín. Perhaps the reader does not even know that Mária Medvecká was the granddaughter of one of the founding members of Živena in the Upper Orava. Maria had an artistic feeling and strong local patriotism literally in her blood. At the age of fourteen, she won an illustration competition. She also devoted herself to amateur theatre. As a young painter, she decided to devote herself to teaching and raising talents in the Orava region. One of her students was even our national artist, ethnographer, interpreter of folk songs, Darina Laščiaková. Wandering with children, Maria already sketched a lot about the nature of Orava. During her academic studies she was led by important artists and professors such as Max Schurmann, Gustáv Mallý, Ján Želibský. Her favourite authors - Mudroch, Milly, Fullla, Alexa and Benka - also shaped and inspired her in her work. Mária Medvecká worked in Vienna for a short time, but she was always drawn home – to her beloved Orava. 

 In addition to pure landscapes, other art genres appeared in her – landscapes with figural staffage of Orava women, portraits of Orava children, mothers, cattle in fields, carriages – they were archetypes of traditional Orava society, the world of work and traditions. She painted ingenious, colourful and decoratively effective floral still life paintings, rural etudes, but predominantly an unrepeatable landscape in a typical earthy colour and vibrant presentation.

You can see the work of our unmistakable artist at the new exhibition of the Lomnica Gallery in Tatranská Lomnica.