Women at ‘face value’

In the post, post-modern age, realist painting is back on the agenda, according to local artist Madeleine Gera.

Over the years, Ms Gera’s name has practically become synonymous with portrait painting.

She has held regular exhibitions revolving specifically around the genre and her latest venture further reinforces her dedication to this discipline.

Ms Gera is currently exhibiting a recently-executed collection of paintings entitled Portraits of Women. The portraits on display were painted from life, during sittings conducted in her cosy Valletta studio on Republic Street, as part of her weekly painting tutorials with students.

Several works explore painting concepts such as sight, size or comparative measurement. Methods employed include massing in proportion and gesture during the initial stages of the portrait’s execution.

The paintings thus show portraits painted on canvas in the oil medium, at various stages of production, from conception to resolution.

Ms Gera believes that “the only way to paint is to understand more about the ‘craft’ of painting”. This is done through study and research, a rigorous approach which she employs in her own work and teaching.

“Setting up a studio in Valletta is relevant to the painting process,” says Ms Gera. This location puts her in the immediate vicinity of the National Museum of Fine Arts, other museums and architectural monuments housing Baroque paintings, such as St John’s Co-Cathedral.

Ms Gera gives classes in figure painting and portraiture on a twice-weekly basis. She also accepts portrait commissions.

She is presently preparing for her forthcoming exhibition featuring land- and city-scapes scheduled for this coming autumn.

Portraits of Women is on show at Angelica Café in Archbishop Street, Valletta, until the end of February.

More of her works can be viewed at www.madeleinegera.com.