The Column 1999

Horia Bernea created this painting, “The Column,” using oil paint, though its specific date remains unknown. The painting presents a column framed within an ambiguous space, challenging our perception of depth and perspective. The column, rendered in soft, neutral tones, stands against a backdrop of muted colors and fragmented patterns. Bernea uses a complex interplay of textures to disrupt any clear understanding of the column's setting. The work refuses to settle into a coherent visual narrative. Bernea's choice of composition and texture is deeply rooted in challenging the viewer's expectations. The painting destabilizes conventional notions of space and form. What might seem like an orderly, classical composition, on closer inspection, collapses into a network of surfaces and textures. In this painting, Bernea invites us to consider the instability of meaning and representation. It underscores how art continually questions and reshapes our understanding of the world.