Painting Gold, artist Oleksandr Yatsenko

• Artist: Oleksandr Yatsenko
• Title: "Gold"
• Year: 2019
• Size: 140 × 75 cm
• Materials: oil on canvas
• Original hand-painted artwork

"Gold" is an elongated abstract composition built entirely on shades of yellow and orange. Most of the canvas is taken up by a luminous lemon-gold field, which, just to the right of the centre, lightens almost to white — as if a patch of sunlight were falling on the surface. The left side is formed by overlapping squares and rectangles of orange, terracotta and ochre, resembling patches, sheets of gold leaf or fragments of an old wall. In the upper left corner a dark red-brown spot with a small light vertical mark inside stands out — it acts as the focal point and draws the eye. Horizontal bands of brown, cream and rust run along the upper and right edges, while in the lower right a narrow dark vertical stroke balances the composition.

The work is painted in oil on canvas in many textured layers. The paint is applied in strokes and drags, scratched or scraped away in places, so that the lower layers — red, brown, white — show through the upper one. Vertical drips and strokes combine with horizontal layering, and the surface looks weathered, like old plaster or metal touched by time. The relief of the paint is clearly visible under side light: highlights appear on the raised areas, shadows gather in the hollows, and the golden field begins to shimmer. Unlike smooth gilding, the "gold" here is created with paint alone: it is uneven and rough, and therefore feels real, as if mined and worked by hand.

The whole palette is warm: gold, saffron, honey, amber, orange, rust and chocolate brown. White flashes heighten the sense of light, while dark accents keep the yellow from becoming flat. The painting literally radiates warmth and solar energy. Its mood is hot, generous and festive, with a sense of abundance and inner light that is reflected in the title. The longer you look at the canvas, the more shades it reveals — from pale lemon to deep copper — and the calmer and warmer the gaze becomes.

Oleksandr Yatsenko is a contemporary Ukrainian painter, born in 1980 in Cherkasy, who lives and works in Kyiv. He works in symbolism, abstract and decorative painting, and a distinctive feature of his works is the combination of expressive texture, complex composition and symbolic imagery. In his abstract canvases the artist builds the image above all on colour and dense, textured painting.

The 140 × 75 cm format allows the painting to be hung above a sofa or bed, above a fireplace or on a pier wall in a living room, dining room or study. The golden-orange palette looks especially good in interiors with beige, sand or white walls, dark wood, brass and mustard textiles, and in a north-facing room it will add warmth and light. The work is also at home in an office — in a reception area or meeting room. It makes a fitting gift for a partner or colleague, a man or a woman: a painting called "Gold" is a wish for prosperity and success.