Untitled 1957

Editor: Here we have an “Untitled” work by Sandu Darie, painted in 1957 using acrylic. The contrasting blue and black shapes against the tan background give it a playful but also slightly unsettling vibe to me. How do you interpret this work, considering its emphasis on geometric shapes? Curator: What strikes me immediately is the way these shapes—fragments of circles, mostly—hint at wholeness without ever achieving it. The arrangement isn't quite symmetrical, is it? Editor: No, it feels deliberately off-balance. Curator: Exactly. It reminds me of the shattered icons of Byzantine art. The deliberate fragmentation, that is not simply damage, points toward an incomplete or hidden narrative. The black, the blue… consider how these colors function symbolically. What do they evoke for you? Editor: The blue feels… optimistic, maybe? A contrast to the harsher black. Curator: Perhaps, and black can speak of absence, what's been taken away. Now think about what the artist is doing by presenting us with these fractured forms in the context of post-war optimism? Editor: Maybe suggesting that even in times of progress, there’s still something lost, some inherent incompleteness? Curator: Precisely. He uses basic geometric forms—universal symbols—to tap into that feeling of disjointed memory. It is less about pure form, and more about a language of shared, broken symbols that point to a complex human condition. Editor: I see it so differently now. It's not just an abstract painting, but a coded message about memory and loss. Curator: Absolutely, a testament to how seemingly simple shapes can carry profound cultural and personal resonance.