135. Little Horse [1917]

One of the most representative figures of Romanian sculpture, Ion Jalea was among the artists who had the opportunity to study in Paris, at the prestigious Julian Academy, with Paul Landowski and Henri Bouchard. However, with Romania's entry into the First World War, he will have to interrupt his studies and return to the country. He will be called to arms and "even in war, Jalea always remains sensitive to what surrounds him, inspired by the desire to express in artistic forms what he sees and feels. He sketches in clay taken from the slope and then burned in the oven at the Cașin monastery, temporarily transformed into a workshop, numerous faces of troubled soldiers, silhouettes of horses as weak as their masters started in exile in sad Moldova, in those days full of worry, stalked by death, by the enemy's bullet or by typhus.", as Marin Mihalache relates. His sculptures from this period, usually of reduced dimensions, will be considered by critics as "front sketches" that "bear the stamp of spontaneity, have sensitivity and freshness, showing the understanding and compassion of an artist for the misery and suffering of the people". His creations thus become war witnesses, which impress through their remarkable power of empathy. The crippled, wounded, fallen horse, exhausted from the battle will be a recurring subject in this period, resumed in works such as "Fallen horse" or "Soldier with a fallen horse", or even in the present work. The notation at the base of the sculpture reveals the year of creation - 1917, but also the location where the sculpture was made - the Cașin Monastery. The same settlement was also to become a central subject in a work signed by Ștefan Dimitrescu: "The Dead from Cașin", a work that pays homage to the victims of the bombing that took place there. The war was to remain a painful memory not only from the standpoint of the artist-observer, but also through the events that marked and completely changed his professional trajectory. The year 1917 marks the tragic event that occurred in Mărășești, where the artist was to lose his left arm, an unimaginable situation for a sculptor. Starting from now, Ion Jalea will bear the stamp of the artist-hero, who fulfilled both roles with evident involvement.

References

MIHALACHE, Marin, "Ion Jalea", State Publishing House for Literature and Art, Bucharest, 1956.

Dimensions

depth 10 cm, width 17 cm, height 8 cm

Description

bronze, signed, located and dated on the surface of the plinth, "Sorrow, Cașin Monastery, 1917"

Dating

1917

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