128. Nomads [cca. 1873]

Nicolae Grigorescu

1838, Pitaru, Dâmboviţa - 1907, Câmpina

Selling price

EUR 60.300

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Session

Tue, 25 October 2022 19:00

The catalogue of the retrospective Nicolae Grigorescu exhibition, opened in 1957 at the Republic Art Museum (nowadays MNAR), constituted by the eminent researcher Remus Niculescu, established for the first time, in rigorous and nuanced ways, whilst keeping a relative margin, the chronological succession of works by the national artist, and implicitly the subdivision of paintings and graphics by periods of time. This bibliographic source still remains an indispensable reference point for the periodization of the artist's work, an activity to be done by comparing the works currently being researched with what has already been classified by Remus Niculescu. Unsigned and undated, originating from an important Interbellum collection belonging to Maria Chihăescu, the present work was integrated in the catalogue under the 1870-1875 period, being probably selected as an important work for the early 1870s. This location in time corresponds to the image's stylistic traits - the Barbizon-style pictural lighting contrasts (see the landscape's earth and sky dialogue) - as well as to the theme, gypsy life, a rich source of inspiration for a 19th Century artist. Adopted by the Romantic school, the theme was identified with the ideas of freedom, beauty (during those times, there was a certain admiration for the refined typology of the face and the body), art (music and dancing were seen as vocational activities of the gypsies), as well as the persistent attraction to the exotic. Hence, the gypsy figure gains a strong symbolic weight in the eyes of the artists, poets and painters. Seen from the romantic sensitivity perspective, the nomad lifestyle becomes the expression of the untamed need for freedom, but also for artistic freedom. Edouard Manet cultivated the theme of the gypsy musician. Grigorescu encountered (actually, re-encountered) the subject matter in Paris and approached it since the 1860s, exhibiting, upon his debut in 1867, "Șatră de țigani în Câmpia Română" ("Gypsy Camp on the Wallachian Plain"), amongst other works. On his way to Italy, in Vienna, in 1873 (where he was represented with various paintings at the "International Exposition"), he would also see the portrait of a handsome gypsy violinist by Belgian painter Louis Gallais (1810-1887), an artwork symbolically named "Art et liberté". A correlation between Grigorescu's interest for this kind of national and international subject matter and the European painting contemporary with his own, points out a possible dialogue between "Țiganca de la Ghergani" ("The Gypsy Woman from Ghergani") (undated painting) and "Art et Liberté". In 1930, the quality of the present painting determined its selection for the Romanian art exhibitions in The Hague and Amsterdam (cat. 12), and later on for the one in Brussels (cat. 16). To this date, it has belonged to private collections, (I.B.)

References

CIOFLEC, Virgil "Grigorescu", Cultura Națională Publishing House, Bucharest, 1925. BREZIANU, Barbu "Grigorescu", Tineretului Publishing House, Bucharest, 1959. JIANU, Ionel, "Grigoresco", Éditions en langues étrangères, Bucharest, 1956. NICULESCU, Remus, Catalogue of "Nicolae Grigorescu Exhibition", Publishing House of R.P.R. Museum of Art, Bucharest, 1957. OPRESCU, George, "Pictura românească în secolul al XIX-lea", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1984. ZAMBACCIAN, K. H., "Grigorescu", Cartea Românească Publishing House, Bucharest, 1971.

Dimensions

width 48.5 cm, height 28 cm, custom 28 Ã 48,5 cm

Description

oil on canvas pasted on wood

Research information

The artwork is reproduced in "Grigorescu", Virgil Cioflec, Cultura NaÈionalÄ Publishing House, Bucharest, 1925, at cat. 30, under the title "Corturi ÈigÄneÈti". The artwork participated in "Tentoonstelling van Roemensche Kunst", Haga-Amsterdam, 1930, cat. no. 12. The artwork participated in "Exposition d`art roumain", Brussels, 1930, cat. no. 16. The artwork is reproduced in "Grigoresco", Ionel Jianu, 1956, p. 131, under the title "Gipsy tents". The artwork participated in "ExpoziÈia Nicolae Grigorescu", The R.P.R. Museum of Art, 1957. The artwork is reproduced and mentioned in the catalogue "ExpoziÈia Nicolae Grigorescu", Remus Niculescu, Publishing House of the R.P.R. Museum of Art, Bucharest, 1957, at p. 40, cat. 100, pl. XVI. The artwork is reproduced in "Grigorescu", Barbu Brezianu, Tineretului Publishing House, Bucharest, 1959, p. 80, under the title "Corturi ÈigÄneÈti". The artwork is reproduced in "N. Grigorescu", George Oprescu, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1961, cat. 162, p. 222, under the title "Corturi de Èigani". The artwork is reproduced in "Grigorescu", K. H. Zambaccian, Cartea RomÃ¢neascÄ Publishing House, Bucharest, 1971, repr. 38. The artwork is reproduced in "Pictura romÃ¢neascÄ Ã®n secolul al XIX-lea", George Oprescu, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1984, pl. LVII.

Dating

cca. 1873

PROVENANCE

Maria ChihÄescu Historical Collection

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