Delphi 1956

Samuel Buri's watercolour, "Delphi," presents a vibrant, almost dreamlike landscape, composed with a clear emphasis on colour and form. The loose brushstrokes and vivid hues evoke a sense of immediacy. The composition reveals a play between representation and abstraction. Buri deconstructs the landscape into blocks and fields of colour. Classical architectural motifs like columns and walls are rendered with simplified lines, integrated into the natural scene. The high-key palette, with its blues, greens, and oranges, creates a harmonious yet dynamic visual experience. The artist’s choice to use watercolour lends the piece a sense of fluidity. The semiotic function of this painting lies in its reduction of Delphi to essential forms and colours. It invites us to consider how our perception of place is mediated through visual representation. It challenges the traditional landscape, transforming it into a meditation on the act of seeing itself. By focusing on colour and shape, Buri’s work encourages a re-evaluation of established artistic conventions.