Here’s a career path no art school would recommend: have four kids, work a range of jobs, retire, then start painting. Lisa Tahar, born in Leipzig in 1963 and still living there, did exactly that. In 2018 she began painting landscapes in oil on canvas. Less than a decade later, she has shown work in Venice, Rome, Milan, Florence, Prague, Paris, and beyond.
If you’ve ever told yourself it’s too late to start something, keep reading.
The Bob Ross Effect
Her spark came from Bob Ross, the American painter who taught people that landscapes are doable. Tahar took that idea and ran with it, just not right away. She came to it long after first being inspired.
Her approach is simple. She paints her own motifs most of the time, and sometimes borrows ideas from images online. No manifesto, no art-world jargon. Just rivers, light and a lot of calm.
Three Paintings, Three Moods
Summer Evening. A quiet river at sunset, with a pair of ducks swimming toward the bank. That’s it, and that’s the point. Tahar says the total tranquility is key: no people, no other animals, nothing distracting. Just nature, and warm light.
Summer. Daylight this time. Trees, colourful flowers, a bank edged with stones, and the same pair of ducks heading for shore. Tahar wants you to hear the water rippling and feel the warm breeze. It’s a painting built for mental escape.
Winter Evening. This is where things get interesting. On the surface it’s a winter river at sunset, but the cold season is painted in warm colours, which is already a clever twist. For Tahar, though, it’s a picture of Germany. The colours black, red and gold nod to the national flag, and the river represents what she describes as the state-orchestrated division of the German people amid today’s big debates: mass migration, whether Russia is friend or foe, the energy transition and climate change.
Whatever you think of her view, the move is worth noting. Landscapes get dismissed as safe and decorative. Tahar quietly makes one say something.
The Exhibition Run
The timeline speaks for itself:
- 2021-2022: Four shows at Gallery Onil in Bremen, including a duo exhibition in April 2022.
- 2023: VERUM, Venice, Scuola Grande.
- 2024: VERUM, Rome, Galeria La Pigna.
- 2025: ROSSOCINABRO Gallery in Rome; NARTWORK APS at Spazio57, Naples; VERUM at the Museum of Art Milan and at Castle Bratislava.
- 2026: Florence’s Palazzo Bellini; Prague’s Gallerey One One; the Venice International Art Fair with ITSLIQUID Group; Castle Golling in Austria; Galerie Mona Lisa in Paris; and a September return to Venice’s Scuola Grande.
That’s sixteen exhibitions in about five years, which is a pace many full-time artists would envy.
The Team Behind the Canvas
Tahar’s curators are Mauro Giampieri and Prof. Marianna Jurcova of the Art and Culture Center VERUM. Their backing explains how a self-described late starter ended up on such an international circuit. Good curation turns a promising painter into a recognised name, and the repeated VERUM shows across Italy, Slovakia, Austria, France and the Czech Republic suggest a lasting partnership.
Why It Matters
Tahar’s story hits a nerve because it flips the usual script. We assume talent has an expiry date and that creative careers must start early. She shows the opposite: patience, a long-ago inspiration and a free calendar can be enough.
Her paintings carry the same message. They’re unhurried. They’re calm. And when they need to, they push back, using warm colour and a flowing river to say something about the country she calls home.
Lisa Tahar didn’t wait for permission. She started painting, and the walls of Europe made room.
Ready to explore her work? View Lisa Tahar’s complete online gallery, track upcoming exhibition stops across Europe, or acquire an original piece to add timeless stillness to your collection.
- 🌐 Explore the Collection: lisatahar.de
- 📸 Follow Her Journey: @lisa.tahar
