Who’s next?… Vera Pagava

by Valentina Biondini, art and literature amateur

The Great Suburb, 1953

Vera Pagava (1907-1988) was the first Georgian female artist to gain recognition in the European art world. She was a well-rounded artist, devoted herself to drawing, decoration, and especially painting over the course of a fifty years career. She emigrated to Europe with her family in the 1920s, shortly before Georgia’s annexation by the Soviet Union. First, she settled in Germany and then in Paris, where she remained for the rest of her life, while maintaining strong ties to her homeland. Read more

Who’s next?… Maria Blanchard

by Valentina Biondini, art and literature amateur

Woman with fan

My name is María Gutiérrez-Cueto y Blanchard, but you can simply call me Maria Blanchard and, although I am unknown to most, thanks to my talent I was one of the protagonists of the avant-garde.

I was born on March 6, 1881 in Santander in the north of Spain and my childhood was painful, in my body and spirit. In fact, I came into the world with a spinal malformation that forced me to walk with a cane since I was a child, which among my schoolmates earned me the unflattering nickname of bruja, that is witch. Read more