Woman on the Seashore 1937

Gheorghe Petrascu made this painting of a woman on the seashore with visible brushstrokes and a palette of blues, browns, and creams. I imagine Petrascu standing on the beach, squinting his eyes to capture the light, feeling the sea breeze and the grit of the sand. The paint is applied quite thickly here and there, so you can see the texture building up like the crests of the waves and the rough surface of the sand. Look at the woman's hat. I can imagine Petrascu dabbing at the canvas, trying to capture the way the light filters through the straw. It's not about perfect representation, it's about sensation, emotion, and mood. There’s an immediacy to it, like he's trying to catch a fleeting moment. Artists are always building on what came before, and I wonder, what other artists was Petrascu looking at when he made this? Each stroke feels like a small decision, a response to what's already there. Painting is an ongoing conversation, and there are no fixed answers, just more questions.