Shadow and Reflection 1976

Nicolae Maniu created this painting titled Shadow and Reflection, we believe, sometime in the 1970s. It is dominated by a muted palette of grays and browns. Your eye is immediately drawn to the large glass container in the foreground, and the shadowy reflections within it, which disrupts the otherwise still, life-like scene. The artist is clearly exploring the interplay between reality and illusion. Note how the reflections within the glass distort the figures and the surrounding environment. This manipulation of form destabilizes our perception and challenges the idea of a fixed, objective reality. The formal structure of the painting encourages us to question what is solid versus what is merely a projection. The reflections become signifiers of a reality that is always mediated, refracted through the lens of perception, emphasizing the instability of meaning and representation.