We walk past everything, yet we don’t truly see it. We enjoy many things, but there is so much more we never learn how to appreciate. Is it because we don’t have the time? Or perhaps we lack the desire—or maybe we need something else to truly see what is freely given to us…
Maybe that is the mission of an artist: to prevent oblivion from covering the image of the world. I thought this while admiring visual artist Vasile Movileanu’s exhibition, held recently on the eve of Chișinău’s Day at the Municipal Hall. I attended the opening; I couldn’t not come, out of respect for Vasile Movileanu, who so skillfully illustrated several of my books. And I did not regret it—I was deeply impressed by the painter’s latest, innovative works, which form a sincere and beautiful chromatic monologue dedicated to the love of Chișinău. Perhaps the chosen space was fitting for such an event, although to fully appreciate the works, they would have needed even more light and space.
We, the guests—along with the paintings—felt like passers-by in a waiting room, where busy, important people, preoccupied with major concerns, hurried past without pausing even for a moment to admire the unique and unrepeatable landscapes, with their ancient streets and timeworn houses. The indifferent gaze of some drifted away, just as time, with its conceited and ruthless momentum, passes over the past of a city that once held the status of a capital. I mention this not by chance!
So many old buildings, bearing the imprint of history on their facades, have already been erased from the face of the earth, demolished without even being immortalized in a single photograph. Had it not been for the tireless Valentina Brâncoveanu, who documented aged houses from dawn until dusk, or for Lică Sainciuc, who for years tried to rescue long-forgotten churches and buildings from the ruins of oblivion, or for Vasile Movileanu himself—who refuses to let the inevitable wave of time erase from our memory what was dear to our forefathers—the past would be even more lost.
I moved from one work of art to another as a guest in a world where nothing is forgotten—a world lovingly and skillfully recorded in a chromatic register by painter Vasile Movileanu. In fact, I saw him in a new light—as a visual artist who, besides illustrating books, also paints on the canvas of memory. After trying (and succeeding!) to paint music, to capture in color the sounds and vibrations beyond the visible, he has now painted the city’s profile with its streets, houses, and people.
Most of the paintings, executed with particular rigor in watercolor, evoke warmth, light, love, and joy. The play of light and shadow is reflected in bright, vivid colors, sometimes with a pastel touch, inviting without overwhelming the viewer.
The works—whether evoking autumn or winter, drenched in multicolored or muted light—transport you to a dear, intimate world, enveloped in the nostalgia of what is forgotten.
Thus, Vasile Movileanu discreetly and with great dedication fulfills his duty as an artist who refuses to leave blank, meaningless spaces in this world. It is a craft about which every soul blessed with the gift of creation should reflect!
This thought was also echoed by the writer beloved by both young and old, Spiridon Vangheli, who was present at the opening—a promenade through the corridors of the Municipal Hall. I also encountered the poet Dumitru Matcovschi on this chromatic walk.
It seemed as though we were all just passing by, each of us experiencing our own emotions—a world from another dimension…
Landscapes with alluring streets, with a “Yard in Chișinău,” then with other courtyards and alleyways, with a “Merchant,” with the much-suffering “Cathedral.”
An imaginary journey from an autumnal landscape to another enveloped in the white of snow, bathed in sunlight or flooded with green—only to return, with thoughts stirred within us, inspired by music expressed in a similarly chromatic manner through intimate images of people in love with the song of colors. These works remind us that every place, like every person, has a soul beyond appearances…
Vasile Movileanu remains the visual artist who continues to offer the world delightful surprises…
Claudia Partole, writer