102. Still Life with Apples and Books [1924]

Being faithful to classical styles and focusing his creation on a narrow thematic register, artist Gheorghe Petrașcu created a concrete art, emerging from the reality of the daily life, from the places he visited, or from the interaction with people around him. Most often, he would insist on the intimate, household universe, where we encounter interiors, still life, flowers, nudes and portraits, elements of a universe, through the depiction of which the artist finds his vocation. In this intimate setting, the motifs, modest in their essence, are treated by the artist in stern interpretations and chromatic radiance, qualities that ennoble the surfaces of his canvases. An admirable colouring master, the artist builds directly in colour, and, under his paintbrush, the matter acquires a particular consistency and a mineral effect, also revealing a strong tactile instinct. One of the favourite genres of his mature period, responding to his preference for unaltered reality, was bound to be still life. Diverse and academic in terms of compositional arrangement, this genre included in its repertoire leitmotifs close to the painting studio space - books, flowers, jugs, fruit bowls, pots, tins, jars with brushes, etc. - covered by the artist in a precious, sculptural colour scheme.

References

OPRESCU, George, "Gheorghe Petrașcu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1963. FLOREA, Vasile, "Gheorghe Petrașcu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1989.

Dimensions

width 41 cm, height 19 cm, custom 19 × 41 cm

Description

oil on wood, signed and dated bottom left, with black, "G. Petrașcu, (1)924"

Dating

1924

PROVENANCE

collection of lawyer Joures Benea

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