Henrikas Natalevičius

Born in 1953 In Vilnius. 1970-1976 studied painting at the Lithuanian Institute of Fine Arts (now Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts) under professors Vladas Karatajus and Antanas Gudaitis. His fellow students were such prominent artists as Mindaugas Skudutis, Raimondas Sližys, Bronius Gražys, Romanas Vilkauskas, with whom they formed the informal "Penketo" group. Member of the Union of Lithuanian Artists since 1988. Belonged to the group of artists "24". Actively participates in group expositions, organizes personal exhibitions. in 2007 won the first prize at the Baltic Painting Triennial in Vilnius. Works are in the Lithuanian Art Museum and MO Museum in Vilnius, the National M.K. Ciurlionis Art Museum in Kaunas, the Ciurlionis Gallery in Chicago, the Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick (New York, USA), private collections in Lithuania and abroad.

"I mature the idea of the picture for a long time, think about it, draw it in a notebook. The eloquence of characters and motives, the naivety and illogicality of their relationships are very important. When painting, I stick to the original idea, but at the same time I improvise, if ideas arise, I even change the whole idea several times. And this is not a correction of mistakes, but rather a way to create a multi-layered surface, which I highly value in my painting. I think that painting is not just covering a certain area with paint, but painting in the true sense of the word, so that the canvas breathes, layers and texture are felt."

Henrikas Natalevičius.