Ana Barbic Katicic

In Beyond, Ana Barbić Katičić captures the overwhelming magic of a picturesque sunset, where the world appears to be set ablaze. The work is dominated by a pulsating red-orange that occupies nearly the entire canvas, creating an atmosphere of intense emotional warmth and infinite vastness. This all-consuming color is pure energy, immediately casting a spell over the viewer. At the very bottom edge of the painting, this flaming spectacle is grounded by a narrow, darker structure of deep blue tones. It is the moment where the sky touches the water and is reflected within it, giving the image its powerful sense of depth and the familiar tranquility of a coastal landscape.

Stylistically, the painting is classified as abstract impressionism, yet it also evokes the dramatic, light-drenched celestial depictions of William Turner. However, Katičić goes beyond mere representation. She allows forms to dissolve into pure light and color, reminiscent of the radical late works of Claude Claude Monet. In the upper third, dramatic cloud formations in electrifying blue and white tones break through the orange. These contrasts create an enormous dynamism and visual tension, as if one is witnessing a cosmic birth or a dramatic end to the day. It is this atmospheric dissolution that gives the painting its modern, timeless quality.

Technically masterful, the artist uses layering and the deliberate dragging of paint to create a palpable texture. The blue color formations appear partly sharp and defined, and partly softly merging into the surrounding orange, bringing to mind modern squeegee techniques (Rakeltechnik), though interpreted here in a softer and more atmospheric manner. The artist’s Croatian heritage and her familiarity with the intense colors and unique light of the Adriatic resonate in this dramatic juxtaposition of elemental forces. Beyond captures that specific moment known from holidays, standing on the shore as one’s gaze blurs into the distance – an image that immediately awakens a longing for the next summer by the sea.