At the Aunts 1978

Constantin Piliuta's painting, At the Aunts, is a symphony of gentle greens and browns applied with an intimate, almost folksy touch, like a memory surfacing from a dream. The materiality here is everything, right? Look at the way Piliuta layers the paint, thin in some areas, creating a transparent veil, and thick in others, giving substance to the haystacks and those sweet little houses. I love how the brushstrokes aren't trying to hide; they're out there, dancing across the canvas, each one a testament to the act of painting itself. Take the hillside, for instance, those strokes almost read like blades of grass standing to attention, while the white impasto on the houses really pops. This painting reminds me of Milton Avery's landscapes, simple, direct, but full of emotional resonance. It's like Piliuta is saying, "Here's the world, not as it is, but as it feels." And isn't that what art is all about?