53. Anemone [1989]

In a period marked by artistic fluctuations, where European art covered a very wide aesthetic space, symbolistic elements being joined with art nouveau ones, and the reminiscences of Impressionism being combined with academic practices, Corneliu Baba creates his own artistic trajectory in this radical revolution of artistic languages. In homegrown painting, the tragic and the dramatic are not the preferred directions, thus, Corneliu Baba becomes a revolutionary through the mere theme he chose for his creations. The artist is distinctive, taking on the impact of immersion in painting. He chooses to explore the twilight of madness, deepening his work into silent solitude, appealing to multiple protagonists to outline the claustrophobia of society. Still lifes, as well as portraits serve the same penumbra. The chromatic spectrum appears from the conflict of darkness with light, his works certainly having a dark tone. Baba's blacks remind us of the works of the great masters Velasquez and Manet, bringing an accentuated state of uncertainty and tension. Starting from his well-known cycles such as “The Mad King”, “The Harlequin” and “The Man with the Spoon”, together with still lifes, where floral visuals predominate, the artist captured the evolution of light in accordance with the underlying presence of darkness. The present work, entitled "Anemone", is part of a series of paintings, from the years '70-'80, in which Corneliu Baba explores chromatic relations through the eternity of anemones. Thus, anemones, popularly called "wind flowers", open this famously painted cycle. The matter painted by Corneliu Baba acquires a certain density due to the balance of shapes and color on the canvas. The two operate like a symbiotic relationship to render the outline of a recognizable object. In the present work, "Anemones", the artist chooses to build the flower vase on an illegible support, thus transforming the anemones into a world axis of ephemerality. Color is the central point of the artwork, interweaving strong shades of red with brown, to create depth of the work. Each petal overlaps with the other, becoming luminous, despite the darkness that immerses them.

References

ȘUȘARĂ, Pavel, "Corneliu Baba. A Painter from the East?", Official Monitor, Bucharest, 2013 MUSCALU ALBANI, Maria, "Corneliu Baba", Publishing House of the Romanian Cultural Institute, Bucharest, 2008

Dimensions

width 37.5 cm, height 43.5 cm

Description

oil on cardboard, signed bottom right, with brown, "Baba"

Research information

A version of the work is reproduced in the catalogue "Corneliu Baba. An European Collection", Artmark Galleries, Bucharest, 2018, page 14., under the name "Anemone".

Lot.notes

Signed, dedicated, and dated on the verso in black, "To the great friend, Professor Dr. Oleg Medrea and to his lady (Next to the easel and palette, and an indispensable cane), I painted some "Anemone" in my own way, not without the obsession of the genius and suffering of Stefan Luchian. I mix with creative fury and preserve immense gratitude, and I always let myself be fooled by the illusory dimensions of eternity. Corneliu and Constanța Baba. Baba - Anemone 1989"

Dating

1989

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