Landscape from Caransebes 1932

Corneliu Baba made this painting of Caransebes with oil on canvas, and you can see how the neutral colour palette really comes alive with his active brush strokes. I wonder about the process of creating this painting – the standing back, the squinting, the mixing of colours on the palette… How do you translate a place into a painting? You can see Corneliu Baba has built up layers and layers of muted brown tones, giving a real sense of the weight and mass of the buildings. Notice how each brushstroke feels carefully considered, like each mark matters. I’m especially drawn to the small tree on the left, rendered with such love that you could recognize it in real life. Painters are always in conversation with one another. There’s this great tradition of landscape painting, and it’s so interesting to see how different artists bring their own unique vision to this age-old subject. I think it’s a lovely painting.