Secrets of the Mountain 2010

Romul Nutiu made this painting, called 'Secrets of the Mountain,' using broad strokes of vibrant color. Imagine him standing before the canvas, brush loaded with thick paint, attacking the surface with blues, reds, yellows, and greens. You can see the energy in each stroke, like he’s carving out a hidden landscape. I feel like Nutiu was onto something, wrestling with the unknown, maybe even frustrated, but pushing through. Look at that bold swipe of blue—it’s confident, sure, but also a little wild. The blacks seem like doubts and shadows, that Nutiu's layered into the more optimistic colours. And then there’s the thin lines of black weaving through, tying it all together, like he's mapping out a secret path. It makes me think about other painters like Joan Mitchell, who also weren’t afraid to get messy and emotional. I wonder if he was looking at her work, or maybe they were just both tapping into something primal about the human condition. Because that's what painting can do, it’s a conversation, a back-and-forth between artists across time, each adding their own voice to the mix.