Nadera | Contemporary Artist: Artworks & Biography

Her talent as a watercolour painter and her sense of tone perhaps stem straight from her country of origin, Algeria. Born in Oran, Nadera arrived in France in 1999, residing in Strasbourg, after receiving training in mathematics and infographics. But it is above all her perception of form and drawing which have brought her to life since her childhood. \nThe artist only discovered the technique of watercolour five years ago, which she taught herself. Thriving on paintings by those who have narrated Paris and its urban life since the end of the 19th century, notably Antoine Blanchard, she endeavoured to make snapshots on her paper of people passing in the street, in front of architecture emblematic of the place. She is interested by movement, the living and dense city, both realist and transfigured at the same time by a resonance, which is particular to her, similar to the Impressionists. For her, all of her watercolours have to be lived by man and be situated in a precise moment.\nNadera Benmansour places vital importance on three elements in her creation: composition, shapes and tones. The colours then come naturally; depending on the light, she prefers dawn or dusk, marrying the drawing already outlined. This will have previously been completed from sketches made outside and from notes. Nadera has painted a lot of Strasbourg, now she is devoting herself to Paris. Then it will be the turn of other large cities, London, New York…\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n