A watercolour of the Sulina harbour at the earliest light, when the boats are silhouettes against a sky that has not yet decided what colour it will be. The painting was made from a quayside position before sunrise, completed in approximately ninety minutes before the light changed too much to continue.
The rigging of the boats was painted last, wet-on-dry, so that the thin dark lines sit clearly on top of the washed sky and water. The water's reflections of the hull shapes were achieved by leaving the paper bare and washing colour around them.
About the artist
Daniel Bucur has spent the last decade building a pictorial world of his own invention — a world governed by rules he has set but never written down, where physical laws apply selectively and objects carry an emotional weight that their literal description does not explain. The paintings are surrealist in the sense that they are faithful to a different kind of reality, one that is felt rather than seen.
He studied in Bucharest and Paris and is currently based in Bucharest, where he runs a small gallery alongside his studio practice. His gouache works on paper are faster and more playful than the oil paintings, made in bursts and kept as a different kind of thinking. He does not accept commissions but is available for studio visits by appointment.
