"Painting reflects us; it is a miraculous mirror in which the outside world sees our inner world.”
Vera Pagava, letter to Roger Hilton (excerpt), Montrouge, April 15, 1936.

 

The Musée Gajac in Villeneuve-sur-Lot is presenting the exhibition "Vera Pagava – Lights of the Night", a tribute to this still under-recognised artist, whose life was shaken by history, and who was able to answer her questions through her art. Vera Pagava was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, before her family circuitously emigrated to France, where she dedicated her entire life to creation, tirelessly seeking to uncover its secrets.

 

The night, a recurring theme in Vera Pagava's work, is honored in this event, which brings together more than fifty works created over five decades, from the 1930s to the 1980s, gradually give way to a deliberate abstraction. The night is a space traversed by light, expanse, and silence; it becomes a place of passage between the visible and the invisible. Visitors will be invited to a unique and poetic journey through the nocturnal realms of a painter who captured the mysteries of the night and made light her inner language.

 

The Musée Gajac collection of five works by Vera Pagava form the catalyst for the exhibition, created thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Elisso Tarassachvili, president of the Vera Pagava Cultural Association – ACV/VP, and with the support of the Friends of the Museum Association.

 

The exhibition also benefits from the partnership of various museums (Musée Unterlinden in Colmar, Musée de Grenoble), the Galerie Jeanne Bucher Jaeger, and private collectors. It is accompanied by a catalog featuring insightful texts by Serge Lemoine, and Virginie Huet.