Vue sur la seine 1998

Aurel Cojan made this painting, called Vue sur la Seine, using oils, and what I see is the sheer joy of applying paint. It's like he's chasing after the feeling of being there. The canvas is alive with thin washes and scrubby marks. See how the white ground breathes through, holding everything together? The reds and blacks aren't laid on top so much as embedded in the surface. It feels like the marks are almost accidental, maybe even applied with a rag, like Cojan was wiping things away as much as building them up. Look in the lower left corner, where the red seems to bleed into the canvas, staining it like a memory. This reminds me a bit of Cy Twombly, who had a similar gift for making paintings that feel both ancient and brand new. With Cojan, like Twombly, it's about embracing the mess, and letting the painting find its own way.