Still Life with Vases and Roses 1920

Francisc Sirato created this painting of vases and roses with oil on canvas, and it feels like a real, lived-in moment. There’s a generosity to the ochre palette, which is offset with cool blues. I love the red vase especially, it has a lovely earthy presence. You can feel Sirato nudging these objects around, searching for the right composition, and the painting seems to come together slowly through a process of layering and refining. It makes me think of Morandi, Giorgio. I bet he had to work hard to get the casual effect of the wooden spoon, which feels slightly clumsy but charming. The flowers too, are they wilting? There’s a fragility to them that I find quite touching, and the blue vase mirrors this feeling with its darker palette. It reminds us that painting is a conversation between artists, a shared language of color, form, and feeling that evolves over time. It can be a space where doubt and inquiry meet.