Painting Roses and Grapes, artist Maxim Babich

• Artist: Maxim Babich
• Title: "Roses and Grapes"
• Year: 2025
• Size: 60 × 77 cm
• Materials: hardboard, oil
• Original hand-painted painting

This vertical composition takes the viewer into a sunlit garden. In the centre, on the round lid of a wooden barrel, stands a dark jug holding a bouquet of pink roses — large blooms open above green foliage and reach to the right. Behind the bouquet and along the left edge, thin brown branches of a grapevine with yellow-green leaves intertwine, filling almost the entire background and forming a living, see-through screen. On the right a light wall or opening can be made out, through which light pours in, and on the ground below reddish and lilac reflections are scattered. The barrel provides a steady base, while the curves of the branches lead the eye to the flowers.

The painting is executed in oil on hardboard. The artist works with short, separate strokes, placing pure colour next to pure colour — this is how the foliage, the rose petals and the wooden staves of the barrel are built. The approach goes back to the tradition of impressionism and post-impressionism: forms are not outlined but are assembled from many patches of colour that blend in the viewer's eye. The texture of the brushwork is visible across the whole surface, especially in the dense, sculpturally modelled flowers. The dark jug is painted more smoothly and becomes a calm anchor for the eye amid the lively foliage.

The palette is very bright and sunny. Lemon-yellow, lime and emerald tones of the leaves sit alongside touches of blue and lilac, while the rich pink-crimson of the roses sounds as the main chord. The deep violet-blue jug and the warm ochre-brown tones of the barrel balance this light, almost glowing palette. The result is the feeling of a warm summer day in the garden, when sunbeams break through the leaves and everything around shimmers with light and colour. Even the shadows here are not grey but coloured — blue, lilac and green.

Light and colour are the main protagonists of Maxim Babich's painting. Following the tradition of impressionism, the artist seeks to convey a living impression of nature and the state of a particular moment: sunlight, the play of coloured reflections, the sense of air and warmth.

At 60 × 77 cm, "Roses and Grapes" will become a bright accent in a living room, dining room or kitchen, and its vertical format fits well into a pier, a niche or the space above a chest of drawers. The sunny palette is especially welcome in rooms lacking natural light. The work will be a lovely gift for a woman who loves flowers and gardens — for a birthday, anniversary or housewarming. The painting is unframed and can be finished with a frame of your choice.