97. Festive Day [1978]

Magdalena Rădulescu begins a laborious creation process, in which symbolism, expressionism and popular art gradually intertwine themselves. The artist manages to harmonise elements which are apparently heterogenous. The traditional line, as well as the fairy tale, would represent the connecting thread for her entire work. Childhood, an endless resource in her creative imaginary, often becomes recurring in the popular theme of her canvases. Dobrudja's Oriental flavour would remain deeply rooted in Magdalena Rădulescu's mind. She successively lived in Constanța and Galați, geographic locations which offered her a safe space where she had the opportunity to get in direct contact with Oriental dances and costumed, but also with Tatars and the odalisques we would encounter later on in her works. In her work, the images of everyday people would acquire much higher meanings. Just like in a ritual, Magdalena Rădulescu would constantly re-approach themes such as traditional dances "Hora" or "Căluș dancers". The performance, understood as the world of theatre, circus or dance, would also serve her as a source of inspiration. Magdalena Rădulescu's works appear as a spiritual inheritance, which the artist takes responsibility for passing on. The folkloric imprint is placed on canvases bearing a plethora of silhouettes wearing traditional costumes, illustrated with their arms lifted upwards, or while they perform dancing steps. Alongside the protagonists that are representative for national folklore, the artist revitalises myths, by introducing an element which was due to become her central motif - the horse. Of divine origins, a symbol of upsurge and courage, the horse completes the triptych of the artist's favourite subjects, alongside dancers and masks. Magadelena Rădulescu's professional pathway is juxtaposed with her attempt to identify new forms of compositional structuring. Conventions disappear in the artist's work, the focus being placed rather on the representation of the popular theme through the embedding of the symbol. The frenzy and the tumult of the festive scenes are captured with the aid of rapid brush strokes, as well as by using shades of red, brown and white, the latter often acquiring a symbolic value.

References

DEAC, Mircea, "Magdalena Rădulescu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1980. "Magdalena Rădulescu. Pictură și grafică" ("Magdalena Rădulescu. Painting and Graphics"), National Art Museum of Romania, Bucharest, 1994. ILNIȚCHI-ARDELEAN, Alexandra, "Magdalena Rădulescu", Brașov Art Museum, Brașov, 2022.

Dimensions

width 92 cm, height 73 cm, custom 73 × 92 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed and dated bottom right, in black, "Magdalena Rădulesco, 1978"

Dating

1978

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