The exhibition of Zuzka Medveďova's restored paintings

The name Zuzka Medveďová is a symbol of the Slovak art work in Serbia. She is known by her art and lifetime dedication to painting. Despite many works of art, her name relates to paintings on which dominates seclusion, landscapes and portraits.

Zuzka is one of the first Slovak Academic painters. She dedicated everything that was possible in her life to became a better artist. Since her childhood she showed a great interest and talent in painting which was noticable by the way she spent her free time, and that was with a pencil or a brush in her hand. Later, when she grew up she attended Art Indrustry school in Záhreb, but later on she studied in Prague on the Academy of Fine Arts.

The breaktrough in her work was a piece on which she painted the traditional Slovak wedding in Petrovec. Her paintings are well known not only in Serbia but also abroad for example in Slovakia. Zuzka's work is in many galleries and museums.

The sphere of the floral seclusions to which she dedicated her work, as much as to everything else, is only a visible material which shows the fullness and rich palette of her art works. Many of those because of  their vulnerability, are not available to a wider audience.

That is why the Cultural Institute of Vojvodina's Slovaks  in association with The Gallery of Zuzka Medveďová promoted for the second time a restoration of those paintings and that way the preservation of a meaningful segment of the Vojvodina Slovaks cultural heritage is made. The exposition of the Zuzka Medveďova's restored paintings was held on March the 8^th in the place of the Cultural Institute.

In the true meaning of the International Women's Day there were presented art works of a woman, whose name is written “ ...in cultural history of Vojvodina's Slovaks with big letters...” says the director of the Cultural Institute of Vojvodina's Slovaks Milina Sklabinská.

The director of the Zuzka Medveďova's gallery, Pavel Čáni pointed out that the Cultural Institute of Vojvodina's Slovaks by this exposition fulfilled its primary mission which is the activity in the field of Vojvodina's Slovaks culture. Also he presented the lifetime work of the paintress.

By the words of Pavel Čáni, Zuzka Medveďová dedicated her art work to oil paintings of portraits and ethnic motives. With her work she expressed some kind of abstraction which Pavel Čáni suggested as a way of evaluation her art works in the future.

The art critic Vladimír Valentík has informed the audience that an hour ago before the exhibition started, there has been in Slovakia a spring auction of paintings in which there has been a painting of Vojvodina Slovak paintress Zuzka Medveďová. The starting bid was 200 Euro what was not a very comforting information. Despite that fact and thanks to the understanding of the Cultural Institute of Vojvodina's Slovaks the Gallery of Zuzka Medveďová can be proud of numerous restored paintings.

The restoring was handled by an Academic painter Miroslav Nonin who restored “few” paintings of the paintress. The floral artistic atmosphere was varied with the musical performance of the pianist Ivana Nováková and a flute player Miona Ilić.

The art critic Sava Stepanov highlitened the importance of Zuzka Medveďova's art work which has important role in the art history of Slovaks in Vojvodina. The proof of the great importance of this Academic paintress is the fact that her works are exposed in many museums in Bratislava meanwhile in the Museum of contemporary arts in Novi Sad there is not one.

With the work of Zuzka Medveďová few situations in the world of art could be changed, explained, not only in Slovak art but it can gain even wider context of art, said Sava Stepanov.

In the end of the opening ceremony Pavel Matúch had an artistic recitation where he presented the poem of Ján Smrek called Kvety (Flowers) and by giving a rose to every lady he wished them a nice Women's Day.