There were other ways that the system used
to strangle artistic life. Ms. Undareanu-Herta said
that in recent years it has become increasingly
difficult to find oil paints, and virtually
impossible to get hold of the color white.

— The New York Times
December 31, 1989

It was white I wanted —of snow, clouds, of sky overcast, of
       a star if you take the shine from it. Usual
           sound, light, and I wake—but sense a shift
of light, a spontaneous tilt in the axis of the sky.
       I cannot tell you what it was that happened
    but all day I worked to paint it, no image
              for the change—I needed white.