It was in 1982 when I first met Vera Gutkina. She had just made Aliya (immigrated to Israel) from the former Soviet Union and was visiting my gallery, where she invited me to see her works. Vera showed me paintings she had brought with her from Moscow as well as several paintings she had worked on since her arrival to Israel. It was immediately evident that Vera was a very talented artist and I invited her to exhibit her works in my gallery.
It was not long before Vera Gutkina was discovered as a distinguished artist and was invited to exhibit her works in galleries in Israel and abroad including galleries in London, Paris, New York & Toronto. She received a coveted scholarship from Israel’s Ministry of Education and Culture and studied in Cité des Arts in Paris where she has returned to paint several times over the years.
Since she made Aliyah, Vera lives and works in Jerusalem. Her works include various series, distinguished from each other in terms of their subject or the technical means which she employs. Vera’s paintings are a product of her observing nature. Whether she is painting a landscape, a portrait or still life she intends to convey a message of life. In Vera’s opinion, the painting is a window through which she wishes to express a sense of freedom and this is only possible by means of freedom of expression, which she experiences each time she finds a new path.
The possible means of expression are varied and the passage from one style to another is far from simple, but for Vera it is a necessity. The painting, for her, is like a living creature – the product of her own creation. Upon feeling she has exhausted her ability to give life, Vera turns to a different means of expression.
Using expressive brush strokes, Vera transforms the objects and frees them from reality to abstractness. Each object is decomposed into shades of colors, and in this respect, Vera’s paintings constitute a continuation and development of the impressionist and post-impressionist paintings, especially those of Cezanne and Van Gogh.
In Vera’s paintings, the boundaries between the object, the image and the background diminish – all is transformed into a spectacular surface of color, and the painting on the fabric is as if alive, filled with rhythmic motion of linear blots and the bursting of the energy of color.