89. The Musical Corner [1882]

Theodor Aman's work is primarily an immeasurable testimony of his artistic legacy. Along with landscape, his static nature predominates the last decade of his activity as an artist. His first attempts were floral themes with Caravaggian influences, where the concerns were materiality and realism of the subject. Caravaggio served him as a teacher for a careful study of nature, which brought to life a faithful naturalism, with detailed renderings of ephemeral details of the depicted objects. In the second stage of creation, the artist discovered a baroque type symbolism, Flemish and Dutch, where besides a virtuous execution of real life, new symbolic details will construct a story between the viewer and the work. He will transpose these symbolic details his paintings too. His numerous journeys in the great European cities helped Aman deepen his understanding of art. Paris, Constantinople, Crimea, Italy, Rome, Venice or Milan are the places he will often go to deepen academic study. In his static nature we often find the theme of vanitas, a symbolic theme found in biblical writings under the words of King Solomon, Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas, expressing the ephemeral idea of life and the surrounding world. His drawing was precise, creating a composition that follows the loyal reality and chromatic harmony, with balanced lights and shadows, preferring miniature details even when painting in large sizes. The thin brush that he handles with careful mastery reveals aspects of the academic period, a technique by which his painting will be ennobled with monumentality. The materiality of the surfaces rendered in his works is impeccably executed, the real objects being easily perceived by the viewer. In the present work we discover symbolic objects that the artist does not choose at random. A few scores that seem turned in the lower right corner, a crystal perfume vial placed on a jewelry box decorated with red velvet and golden details outline the evoked ephemeral character. Aman uses the texture play of the overlaid white gloves with the closed fan and creates a realistic and balanced representation of objects and nature. A Victorian era ring, placed independently from other props, captures the viewer's attention and accentuates the vanitas character. Usually fresh flowers are a delicate note and balance the composition by color and texture. The centerpiece is the white marble sculpture by Auguste-Hyacinthe Debay, embraced by flowers, which is the element that unites the two registers of the work. The sculpture is the representation of the infants Cain and Abel nestled perfectly in the arms of their mother, Eve. It is an opportunity to contemplate the strong contrast between this idyllic moment and betrayal, violence and death, which will separate the two brothers. Theodor Aman will use this sculpture and other static natures to underline the border between life and death and the ephemeral character of life. (A.A.)

References

Greta Șuteu, Aman-The Painter. The painting repertoire of the "Theodor Aman" Museum, Ed. Bucharest City Museum, Bucharest, 2017 Centenary Theodor Aman, Ed. Venus, Bucharest, 1991 Theodor Aman, EDIMPEX Art Collection, Bucharest, January 1995 Vasile Florea, Theodor Aman, Ed. Meridiane, Bucharest, 1972

Dimensions

width 62 cm, height 94 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed and dated top right, with brown, "Th. Aman, 1882"

Dating

1882

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