With a symbolism that reflects feelings such as love, carnations regularly appear in the work of the Iasi artist. He determinedly decided to transpose the flowers from his garden (and not only, but he generally opted for a type of easily accessible flowers) into works of undeniable value. Occupying a central positioning and dominating without hesitation the entire work, the flower vase distinctly separates from the rest of the composition through contours, lines, colors, and light effects. Octav Băncilă chooses to paint both the background and the table on which the vase is placed in low tones and dark shades. For this vase, the artist uses shades of white in which he skillfully incorporates both light effects and shadows. From inside the vase, the bouquet of carnations triumphantly emerges, softly transitioning from shades of red, to pink, and light tones of white. Seen as a whole, this work reveals on one hand the artistic mastery of the painter, and on the other hand, allows us to enter his emotional universe, through the symbolism and emotional charge of the flowers.
bio
COMAN, Anton, "Băncilă", State Publishing House for Literature and Art, Bucharest, 1954.