66. At the Harvesting [1907-1910]

Arthur Verona declares himself an avid admirer of plein-air painting as implemented by Nicolae Grigorescu, thus in his own creation he will often turn towards the natural environment in which he himself conducts his daily life. Having a residence in Herța, in Cernăuți, he will take up the rural motif in his work. We will identify an incursion into rural life through which the artist brings the forests and fields back to attention; the customs and traditional costumes; or he will often dwell upon rural labor. He will enhance the land he purchased in Herța and will build a generous workshop there, surrounded by a large park, meant to be a productive space, dedicated to creation. The landscapes of Herța and the richness of the vegetation will remain the cornerstone on which the artist builds his work. Arthur Verona also owned a rich collection of authentic Romanian traditional costumes. His mansion in Cernăuți was crowned with wooden gates, carved with popular motifs from Romanian provinces. Contemplation for Romanian folklore will thus transpose not only in the artist's work but also in his daily life. Verona thus becomes an ethnographer who notes in a plastic grammar important testimonies about Romanian life. The present work, whose subject is represented by the peasant caught in the act of reaping, is suggestive for the natural framing of the anthropomorphic motif in the landscape. The communion of the geometry of the strokes with the chromatic palette will direct towards deepening the perspective. Verona builds his composition vertically and manages to convey, through the used nuances, the fervor of the summer. The work becomes an ideological support of the importance of work through the arrangement of the protagonists in the foreground. The dried wheat and the wild flowers, the clear sky and the raw green of the vegetation convey beyond the fiber of the work the warmth of the torrid season.

References

ZURESCU, Ion, "Verona", State Publishing House for Literature and Art, Bucharest, 1957. Preutu, Marina, Răileanu, Brândușa, "The Painters of the Verona Family, Humanitas Publishing House, 2002.

Dimensions

width 48.5 cm, height 57 cm

Description

ulei pe placaj, signed bottom right, in red, "Verona"

Dating

1907-1910

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