Romantica II 1972

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to “Romantica II,” created by Gil Nicolescu in 1972. At first glance, I am intrigued by how stark the contrast is between the geometric abstraction and the title’s implication of emotional expressiveness. What is your impression? Editor: The materiality is fascinating. Oil paint, but with a surprising tactile quality. The shapes almost seem collaged onto the canvas, with a sense of layered production that belies its simple appearance. It brings to mind industrial processes meeting subjective experience. Curator: Precisely. Think about Romania in 1972. The artwork becomes a coded language, using abstraction to push against prescribed social realism, almost like whispers of individual romantic longing beneath the surface of prescribed conformity. The colors, though muted, hold a subversive power in that context. Editor: I see what you mean. Considering the production itself, I wonder about the availability and source of the materials at that time. Did Nicolescu have to scavenge or rely on specific state allocations? The restrictions, if any, inevitably shaped the very outcome of the artwork, challenging the romantic intention through scarcity. Curator: And let’s think about the “Romantica” aspect again. The title positions the entire composition as a statement on emotional life, in defiance of what the Communist Party allowed for public display, with "romance" and by extension individualism perceived as a capitalist evil. The matter painting could be his political protest. Editor: Perhaps the "matter-painting" element isn't just a style, but a commentary on what is deemed acceptable “matter” for art production. By engaging with materials in an unconventional way, is he critiquing the limitations imposed not only on art but also on self-expression and the expression of feeling under state control? Curator: Absolutely. Seen through that lens, the geometric shapes and their specific arrangement might also reference rigid societal structures clashing with more fluid, emotionally-driven elements represented by those irregular painted forms. Editor: It redefines “romance,” moving it from individual pursuit towards the defiance through his method. Curator: This makes this artwork become far more politically resounding! Editor: Right, now that I am fully thinking of all those connections, the real romance is Nicolescu's engagement with the limits of his time.