A gouache study of white chrysanthemums in a simple ceramic vessel — a subject chosen for the challenge of painting white flowers against a neutral ground and the pleasure of the chrysanthemum's particular petal structure, which rewards close looking. Made over two afternoon sessions with fresh flowers.
The stems and leaves were established first, providing the green that would define how white the white needed to be. The background was repainted twice before settling on a tone that neither receded too far nor advanced to compete with the flowers.
About the artist
Catalin Vasile works across a wide range of media and scales without feeling that this breadth dilutes any particular practice — he considers the gouache studies on paper and the large oil canvases as part of the same ongoing investigation of light and surface, conducted in different registers. The studies are fast, the canvases slow; both teach him different things about the same problem.
He is based in Galați and has a particular relationship with the light and landscape of the Danube estuary — a quality of luminosity specific to that part of Romania that recurs throughout his work regardless of the subject. He accepts commissions for landscape and interior work.
