Hanging Garden 

Ion Alin Gheorghiu, a Romanian artist, painted Hanging Garden with oils on canvas sometime in the 20th century. Gheorghiu's expressionistic style gives us a glimpse into his creative process, as well as into the social and cultural contexts that shaped his work. The materials used are traditional to the world of fine art, and the gestures are applied with swiftness. But the composition eschews any sense of naturalism, instead creating a complex arrangement of abstract shapes. The textures vary from the smooth to the slightly rough, due to the consistency of the paint and the artist's manipulation of the brush. We get the sense of rapid application of paint, and the overall effect suggests that the artist's involvement with materials and process infuses the work with symbolic meaning. Looking closely at the relationship between materials, making, and context, it allows us to go beyond conventional definitions of art.