The street of old Kotor

Tatiana Chernova’s painting wins us over from the first sight with its fresh, ingenuous look at the landscape. The artist who happened to peek into perspective of a narrow picturesque side street, finds herself totally enchanted by this nook of ancient Kotor, a small city at the Mediterranean coast of Montenegro with its history dating back to Hellenistic era. The unique atmosphere of medieval city that captivated the artist’s eye makes itself felt everywhere. This particular motif reveals the ancient part of Kotor in its full charm – tiled roofs, so common in the Mediterranean, green shutters on the windows, the constant element of Southern urban architecture, flowered green lianas pouring like waterfall from the walls, picturesque street lamp on the corner of old, medieval building with the typical Moresque balcony. Two female silhouettes in black garments move away from the spectator onto the deserted street, passing by the café, which is empty at this sultry midday hour. The masonry of ancient walls could be discerned by these dense pastose brush strokes. The shadows on the pavement and the buildings look long and soft – the hot day has obviously turned toward its second half. The air seems to be full of ringing silence, so typical for the southern towns. The study is exquisitely beautiful in choice of colors. The work is painted, so to say, in one breath, in a sheer, energetic manner. The color combinations are beautiful and precise – the roll-call of blue and orange, the red terracotta of tiles along with warmish pink, golden and violet in the colour of old buildings, the bluish green of sun blinds, the faded black of women’s clothes. The houses’ walls and human figures seem to dissolve in the haze of hot vibrating air. The study is painted in the mood of genuine, open adoration for the nature. This mood of fascination is reproduced by juicy, delicious pictorial language, which undoubtedly makes this small canvas a brilliant sample of open air art.