Mónica Meira —painter, draftsman, portraitist, and printmaker— is the artist to whom Seguros Bolívar dedicated its annual book in 2010 about outstanding figures in Colombian art.A disciple of great masters such as Juan Antonio Roda, Santiago Cárdenas, Juan Cárdenas, Carlos Rojas, Luis Caballero, Nirma Zárate, and Umberto Giangrandi, among others, Mónica Meira's work emerged in the country's plastic arts scene in the seventies, shortly after completing her studies at Universidad de los Andes.Following her initial pop-style works, the artist entered a phase in which she recreated unforgettable objects, almost always feminine —bags, gloves, boots, purses— and exquisite fabrics of great craftsmanship and beauty, clearly showing her enjoyment of textures and shades. Then came her extraordinary series of portraits and self-portraits, which undoubtedly place her in a very special position among national portraitists, followed by her extensive series of bathers. In a more recent phase, Mónica Meira has surprised us with strange landscapes —not without social and ecological connotations— in which, amid a generous display of color, small and indefinable human figures are inscribed.The artist's rigorous classical training, who is also a tireless scholar, has allowed her to venture effortlessly into contemporary plastic arts modes. The thematic and chronological trajectory that this book traces for us allows us to appreciate not only the surprising and constant renewal of her language but also the uninterrupted perfection of her technique. This is affirmed by the texts of Professor Germán Rubiano Caballero.