Waterfall IV 2002

Romul Nutiu made this painting, Waterfall IV, with oil paint on canvas, and it's a riot of black, white, pink, yellow, and purple. Just imagine him slinging paint around, trying to capture the feel of water cascading down. I can see him, brush in hand, wrestling with the canvas, maybe even attacking it a little, trying to get the colors just right. The white paint is so thick, like frothy water crashing over rocks. And those dark, almost violent strokes at the top – they must have been so urgent. I see a kind of kinship with other painters like Joan Mitchell, who also knew how to make color sing and dance on a canvas. There's something about the way Nutiu layers the paint, letting it drip and pool, that feels both deliberate and totally free. It’s like he’s not just painting a waterfall, but also the energy and chaos of nature itself. And isn't that what art is all about, this endless conversation across time and space, where one artist inspires another, and another, and another?