Untitled 

Sorin Ilfoveanu, who was born in Romania in 1942, made this painting with simple techniques and materials to produce an intriguing composition. Ilfoveanu’s painting has an illustrative quality, achieved through the interplay of line and flat color. It’s painted on canvas, likely with acrylic or oil paints, in a deliberately artless manner. We can see this in the way that the stripes on the woman’s skirt have been so carefully applied. Look closely, and you can see the artist has emphasized the edges, not trying to blend them. He clearly delights in both detail and abstraction. The dark shapes behind the central figure could be anything, really. Ilfoveanu encourages us to notice the hand of the maker. Perhaps he even wants us to reflect on the labor of the artisan. His painting asks us to remember that even the most apparently straightforward image is the product of consideration and effort. The painting reminds us that the categories of fine art and craft are far from distinct.