Venice 1934

Gheorghe Petrascu made this painting of Venice with thick daubs of paint in a sombre palette of browns, ochres, and greens. I can just imagine Petrascu standing at his easel, squinting at the light as it hits the buildings, trying to capture the essence of this unique city. The brushstrokes are so loaded with paint, they almost become sculptural. Look how he’s built up the surface with these layers, like he’s wrestling with the very materiality of the world. There's a real tension between representation and abstraction. See that dark, almost black line of the post to the left? It's not just a line, it’s a statement. It anchors the whole composition and draws you into the watery depths. The other buildings emerge from the fog. Petrascu must have looked closely at the paintings of the old masters like Rembrandt and Velazquez, but he brings a modern sensibility to his work, embracing the messiness and uncertainty of perception. And that’s what makes painting so exciting, right? It’s not about perfect representation, it’s about the ongoing conversation between artists, each building on the other’s ideas and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.