The Odessa Municipal Museum of Personal Collections A.V. Bleshunov opened a personal exhibition of watercolour botanical illustrations by Nadezhda Vladova "Winter Garden".

Giant apples, pears, grapes, pumpkins, cabbages and even hot peppers - detailed, as if they were alive. The opening took place in the dark. Viewers used flashlights on their own phones to highlight this or that element, to look in more detail.

According to the curator of the project, Maria Apryatova, this format helps to immerse oneself in the picture, to consider all the subtleties. Indeed, the audience literally froze in front of the frames, centimeter by centimeters exploring the paintings. It was very difficult to give up the idea of ​​touching the drawing: every fruit, vegetable, leaf, flower and even a chestnut looked so realistic. Moreover, each is several times larger than the original.

Nadezhda Vladova managed to master this unique, painstaking technique of watercolour botanical illustration after 50 years. She graduated from art school №2 in Odessa, received her higher education at the construction institute at the architectural faculty. On the occasion of her 50th birthday, her son presented a sketchbook and it became “uncomfortable in front of a child”. Nadezhda began to draw a little, and then came to the drawing courses for adults at the Bleshunov House and never stopped. Now, her works are kept in private collections in the USA, England, France, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Canada, Russia, Ukraine. Personal exhibitions were held in Odessa and St.Petersburg.

The museum is planning a series of demos with the artist. During the demo, Nadezhda will create a picture, and everyone will be able to watch how the magic of botanical illustration is born on paper.

The exhibition will be open until the end of the year. For visitors, the standard requirements of the "Yellow Zone" apply: a certificate of one or two doses of vaccination against coronavirus, negative PCR test.