August lillies 1995

Elena Bontea's "August Lillies", seems to emerge from a warm, golden haze. I imagine Bontea, brush in hand, circling around this bouquet, trying to pin down the fugitive light bouncing off those white petals. The brushstrokes are so direct and economical, but it’s not about perfection or botanical accuracy. Look at the leaves – broad strokes of green, laced with blue veins. They’re not trying to be leaves, they’re trying to be… alive. It reminds me of other painters grappling with the same thing: how to make paint breathe, how to make a picture feel as alive as the thing it represents. It’s a conversation that goes on and on through painting history, each artist adding their own voice, their own little gesture.