83. Blown by the Wind

In the early 20th Century, both in painting and in literature, be it Symbolist or Art Nouveau, women's long and flowing hair, which develops into a vivid organism, full of scented flowers, becomes a symbol of growth and the source of youth. In Kimon Loghi's painting, the character's ginger hair takes over the colour and the movement of leaves, and the tree's crown perpetuates and amplifies it in the botanical dimension, reminding of Daphne's transformation. Through the wind's intervention, her locks become interwoven with branches and leaves in a natural way, as Loghi seeks to keep the realistic coordinates in the image. The association between the woman and natural elements also reminds of her nymph role, a frequent theme in Art Nouveau images. In Loghi's symbolist painting, the woman has the role to inspire contemplation, the state of meditation, being the receiver of an idea towards which the observer is transposed. The observer is placed in her shoes, and sees the universe of the painting through the woman's eyes, as the artist induces the meditative state by positioning the character in an angle hiding her face. Avoiding eye contact, in this case by covering the face with hair locks, is a technique used by the artists belonging to the Les Nabis group, in order to project the scene in the observer's imagination. Yet, the character does not only cause a state of reflection, but her delicate appearance in the middle of nature also has erotic qualities. Her body suggests youth, the white dress - innocence and sensuality, inspiring the symbolist girl-woman stereotype, an ambiguous being, who deliberately causes deception. In association with the tree in the background, the character reminds of Eve's iconography, in a moment following the sin that caused the loss of innocence and the subsequent decadence, depicted in the natural dimension through the shrivelling vegetation. The loss of the heavenly state was accompanied by a newly-acquired self-awareness, expressed by the gesture of bending over the mirroring lake and finding one's own face. The motif of the water reflection, the concern with one's own mirror image, is part of the broader theme of narcissism, which was frequent in art around 1900. The character bends over the water to study her own reflection, reminding of the women in paintings by Aman, Jean-Maurice Denis or Edvard Munch, but adding an extra dramatic note to all this self-discovery, by the gathering clouds and the action of the wind. By introducing movement, Kimon Loghi moves away from the symbolist nature of the image, where the static, calm, and meditative atmosphere reigns. Instead, the painting "La marginea lacului" ("By the Edge of the Lake") captures a synthesis of stylistic and themed elements, placing it in an area of innovative interests in the Romanian art of the early 20th Century.

References

CONSTANTIN, Paul, "Arta 1900 în România", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1972 PAVEL, Amelia, "Idei estetice în Europa şi arta românească la răscruce de veac", Dacia Publishing House, Cluj, 1972 PAVEL, Amelia, "Desenul românesc în prima jumătate a secolului XX", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1984 LOSS, Archie K., "The Pre-Raphaelite Woman, the Symbolist "Femme-Enfant," and the Girl with Long Flowing Hair in the Earlier Work of Joyce", Journal of Modern Literature, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Feb., 1973), pp. 3-23 MATEESCU, Denia, MATEI, Rodica, DREPTU, Ruxandra, Culorile grădinii în peisajul românesc, National Museum of Art Publishing House, Bucharest, 2006 OCTAVIAN, Tudor, "Pictori români uitaţi", Noi Media Print Publishing House, Bucharest, 2003 OPREA, Petre, "Artişti participanţi la expoziţiile Societăţii Tinerimea Artistică (1902 – 1947)", Maiko Publishing House, Bucharest, 2006 SCHUBERT, Gudrun, "Women and Symbolism: Imagery and Theory", Oxford Art Journal, Vol. 3, No. 1, Women in Art (Apr., 1980), pp. 29-34 THOMPSON, Jan, "The role of woman in the Iconography of Art Nouveau", Art Journal, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Winter, 1971-1972), pp. 158-167

Dimensions

width 58 cm, height 50 cm, custom 50 × 58 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed bottom right, with ochre, "KIMON LOGHI"

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