Chromatic Collage 

Roman Cotosman, who was active in Romania from the mid to late twentieth century, made this "Chromatic Collage" using cut paper. It’s a striking arrangement in black and red against a white background. Cotosman lived and worked during the communist regime in Romania. So, even though this may look like a purely formal exercise in abstract art, we can consider it as a product of that specific socio-political context. How might he have been responding to or challenging the dominant aesthetic values of his time? Perhaps the clean, geometric shapes and bold colors are a subtle form of rebellion against socialist realism, the officially sanctioned style in communist countries. To better understand Cotosman's artistic choices, we can look into the history of abstract art in Eastern Europe during the Cold War. Researching exhibition records, artists' manifestos, and critical reviews from that period can provide more insight into the complex interplay between art, politics, and ideology. In the end, what is considered aesthetically pleasing depends on the time and place.