Prilep Stones IX, 1989

Item's description:

Signed in the lower right corner: BONCZAR

Inscribed on the reverse

Framed in the original frame from 1989.
The painting is one of the first works that initiated the major series "Stones of Prilep" or "Prilep Stones" (Prilep is a city in the southern part of North Macedonia).

Dr. Renata Bonczar on the painting “Prilep Stones IX”:

"During my first stay in Prilep in 1989, I was deeply inspired by the ancient and at the same time ascetic place: Marko’s Towers, and the Monastery of St. Michael the Archangel in Treskavec, dating back to the 10th century, where I had the opportunity to live and work. This plein air experience resulted in a series of drawings and sketches of the area. During subsequent visits to Prilep, I painted dozens of works that became a cohesive cycle. These paintings have been exhibited numerous times, received awards, and many of them found their way into private and public collections in Macedonia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, China, the USA, Algeria, Spain, the Netherlands, and Poland. I will modestly mention that these works were evaluated by the main organizer of these international gatherings, the president of Slavic archaeology, Professor Boško Babić. He considered them to be the most faithful representations not only of the character of the place but also the finest paintings depicting these stone landscapes created there since 1957, the beginning of the Art Colony in Prilep, which has hosted painters and sculptors from around the world."

"Stones, natural formations in their various shapes, structures, textures, hardness, and colors, are an endless source of inspiration for me. They are inseparable, in different configurations, from my paintings. They hold symbolic meaning for me and have accompanied me for as long as I can remember."

— Dr. Renata Bonczar