Painted idol
Veronika Rajek
1 painting in the series ▪ publishes as @veronikarajek
Photograph published by @veronikarajek on Instagram ▪ source
See the workThere are two things in Veronika (American Girl) that were not in the photograph.
Who is Veronika Rajek?
Veronika Rajek is a Slovak model. Before she reached the final of Miss Slovensko in 2016 she had already worked as a model in Milan and Istanbul, and a year earlier she finished as second runner-up in Miss Leta, the Miss Summer contest.
Her work today is mostly swimwear and lingerie photography, and Instagram is where it reaches its audience. She rarely goes to castings: brands and events come to her through her agency and her managers in Europe and the United States. Her own website lists work for Dolce & Gabbana, Blumarine, Moschino, Philipp Plein and Vera Wang.
This summary is put together from publicly available sources and has not been checked with her. If something here is wrong or she would rather it were not here, write to the studio and it is corrected or removed.
Where you know her from
- 2015Second runner-upMiss Leta (Miss Summer), Slovakia
- 2016FinalistMiss Slovensko
- 2023Interview on her modelling ambitionsOutKick
- 2024Interview in the series Ide o násPravda TV
Painting Veronika Rajek in the studio
One of them you can find if you look properly. The other does not exist in any image of this work, including the one on the screen in front of you. It is only there if the canvas is in the room, and once you have seen it the hat and the denim stop meaning what you assumed they meant.
I am not going to say more than that. It took me weeks to arrive at it and about four seconds to give away, so I would rather you had it the first way.
The edges are painted, which means the work carries on around the sides of the stretcher instead of stopping at the front. It is also the plainest argument I have for why a photograph of a painting is not the painting.
Days at a time over several weeks. No sketch and no plan. It stopped when I was finished with it.
Veronika Rajek paintings: what exists
Oil on stretched canvas, 100 x 80 cm, signed, one of one, from Painted Idols. A hand-signed print exists in a small edition that is never reprinted -- though the second of the two things is exactly what a print cannot carry. The canvas was painted by hand from that photograph; what it became is the painter's doing, not hers.
What is still available, and at what price, is on the cards below.
“Something stops me. Then I have to deal with it.”
I wrote to Veronika Rajek about this painting, as I do to every woman in the series. Not every message gets an answer. If you are Veronika Rajek, or you made the photograph, and you would rather it were not shown here: write to the studio and it comes down. No explanation needed.
Works featuring Veronika Rajek
All canvases →
American GirlVeronika
100 × 80 cm
€950
American GirlVeronika: signed print on paper
100 × 80 cm
€35
Follow Veronika Rajek
Questions about the paintings of Veronika Rajek
Is a painting of Veronika Rajek for sale?
Yes. The one original painting of Veronika Rajek, Veronika (American Girl), is still available. It is one of one and will not be painted again.
How big are the paintings of Veronika Rajek?
Veronika (American Girl) is 100 × 80 cm. The signed prints are 100 × 80 cm.
Are there prints of the paintings of Veronika Rajek?
Yes. Veronika (American Girl) has a hand-signed print on paper, in an edition of 50: printed once, never reprinted.
Did Veronika Rajek pose for these paintings?
No. They are painted from photographs that Veronika Rajek published herself. She did not sit for them, and what the canvases became is the painter’s doing, not hers.
