Dzidra Bauma, Still Life with Balsam, 1969, Watercolor on Paper

Still life with balsam, chocolate and lemon. 1969. Paper, watercolor, 54x46 cm Dzidra Bauma (1930) Dzidra Bauma works in watercolor technic. She paint figural compositions, portraits, landscapes, flowers and still lifes. She is one of the most productive watercolors artists, in first post-war generation - the number of jobs estimated in the thousands. Especiallly popular paintings with floral motifs. The artist about herself says: "I was born in Jelgava in 1930 in family of teachers. As a child, together with brother we loved to draw and made figures of clay or plasticine. In Riga elementary school №8 was a great art teacher, artist Alphonse Mihaylovskis, he also gave the first direction in art. Father let us buy a good brushes, watercolors, art books and publications related to the Latvian art. We also visited the exhibition. Enthusiastically I absorb all that read, studied the basic concepts not only in painting but also in the history of art. In 1945, I continued education in Riga 2nd high school. In school years, also visited the Riga Palace of Pioneers, studio Janis Skucha. Father did not want me to study at the art school named Y.Rozental. At that time he did not underestimate the teachers of this school, because he believed that all good artists have left our city. " One year Dzidra Bauma studied at the Art School of Janis Rosenthal, then attended the Academy of Arts as a free listener. In 1966 she graduated from Latvian State University, Faculty of History and Philology. During the study period, all the term papers have been written about history of art. from 1954 to 1961 she worked as a teacher in an elementary school Pravinas, from 1961 to 1965 as a research fellow and interim director of the Fine Arts and history Museum of Tukums, from 1965 to 1975 as a professor of art at the Riga 77th secondary school. In the 20th century, 90s, returned to Pravinas, then moved to Tukums. Artist is taking part in exhibitions since 1959, both in Latvia and abroad. Member of the Union of Artists since 1970. She organized personal exhibitions in Tukums, Jurmala, Dobele, Madone, Jekabpils, Liepaja, Aizkraukle, Kuldiga, Jelgava, Mazsalaca, Valmiera, Talsi, Ventspils, Riga, Parnu, as well as in the Latvian center of US Garezera. Dzidra Bauma considers herself as a freelance artist with a unique personal style, and with a special relation to the events in the art.