71. Still Life with Apples [cca. 1910]

Beginners in drawing are often proposed the theme of still life with apples that combines spatial relationships with the rendering of spherical volumes. Approaching at the end of his career a simple study of form and color - light, the one we have in front of our eyes, Grigorescu performs a musical accord that will suit a moment of spiritual balance. Simple, local fruits, chosen from the atmosphere of the house, and mentioning in dedication the name of the woman to whom he tied his fate, introduce us to the intimacy of the artist, in the relationship of harmony established between him and what is around him. Maria Danciu, the mother of Gheorghe, the son of Grigorescu, remains a character rather veiled in mystery, of course due to the discretion of the artist in the first place. Her figure, however, appears sketched in the pages of memories dedicated by Dr. Constantin Istrati to the national artist. The face of Maria Danciu appears in the master's paintings in the 1880s and then continues to appear predominantly in the period 1890-1907 (Remus Niculescu, 1957, p. 96). We can identify her at first in the figure from the symbolic work, dated 1881, Spring (Vlahuţă, 1910, p. 168-169, reproduced): a beautiful young peasant woman, portrayed in profile, thin as a twig is represented sitting in a blooming orchard, with a pot and a jug beside her. Obviously, Maria Danciu represented by the graceful typology of the silhouette and the finesse of the classic features - "of a Roman vestal" says Vlahuţă - a type of beauty that Grigorescu transformed during the white period, into a feminine ideal, which he wanted as the canon of his aesthetics. Maria's figure can also be identified in a series of genre scenes like Woman Embroidering (MNAR, inv. 9332), or in a few effigies such as the one probably kept uninterrupted in the workshop in Câmpina (Nicolae Grigorescu Memorial Museum, Câmpina, inv. 92834) Placed in the foreground and nearly "coming" towards the viewer, painted in full paste in delicate shades of red, the apples can be read as a symbol of vitality and we believe of the artist's sentiment - so discreet in confessions about his spiritual life - for the woman of his life. The contrast between the dark background, treated uniformly and the color-light of the fruits confirms what is known about the Grigorescian formula of painting still lifes, more traditional in the absence of plein air light. The small painting on wood was clearly a gift that the painter offered to Maria. A similar gesture, probably a Christmas gift we decipher in another work that can be considered in pendant with Red Apples, the profile portrait of Maria Danciu, pen drawing kept at the Museum of Art in Cluj (inv.MA 2422). The drawing also carries the artist's dedication that wanted to mark the moment: for Maria Danciu /1895 December 22/Grigorescu. By correlating with the drawn effigy from Cluj, we can assume that Red Apples dates approximately from the same period (around 1895-1896), when the artist goes through moments of fulfillment in work and when near the white period imposing works stand out through the sovereign freedom of execution like Peasant Reading (MNAR, inv.3294), Romanian Peasant Woman (France, Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Agen, inv.304 BR), Peasant Woman Head (Art Museum Ploieşti, inv.585). The Red Apples remained near Maria Danciu and the artist, in the workshop in Câmpina, at least as long as Maria lived. We can identify them in the image of a wall with works from the artist's studio, due to Stelian Petrescu, eminent photograph of the Grigorescian work (Vlahuţă, 1910, p. 251). The photo could have been taken either in 1906 or after Grigorescu's death. In the multitude of unframed paintings, tightly placed, one next to the other, most of them dating from the final period of the work, we recognize The Red Apples on the right upper edge of the range of works and two effigies of Maria Danciu, one of which was mentioned above (Grigorescu Museum, Câmpina). (I.B.)

References

VLAHUȚĂ, Alexandru, “Painter N. I.Grigorescu. Life and Work”, Bucharest, Socec, 1910, il. p. 251. NICULESCU, Remus, “Nicolae Grigorescu”, [exhibition catalog], Museum of Art of the Republic, Bucharest, 1957. OPRESCU, George [-Remus Niculescu], “N. Grigorescu”, Bucharest, ed. Meridiane, 1963, vol.II. FURNICĂ RUS, Alexandra Negoiţă LĂPTOIU, Viorica MARICA, “Nicolae Grigorescu's Graphics at the Art Museum of Cluj”, catalog [exhibition], Museum of Art of Cluj, 1967, p. 16, cat. 16; il. p. 61. BELDIMAN,Ioana, COSMA, Gheorghe, “Nicolae Grigorescu”, painting-graphics, [exhibition catalog], Museum of Art of the Socialist Republic of Romania, Bucharest, 1984.

Dimensions

width 30 cm, height 15 cm

Description

ulei pe lemn, signed and dedicated bottom right, in red, "For M. Danciu, Grigorescu"

Research information

The work belonged to Maria Danciu, the wife of the painter and is reproduced in the panel with works from the artist's studio, Alexandru Vlahuță, "Nicolae Grigorescu", 1910, page 251.

Dating

cca. 1910

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For clarifications regarding the bidding procedure, hammer price costs, guarantee, payment, and collection terms for the winning lot, we recommend carefully reading/re-reading the Bidding Regulations.

For additional information regarding the lot and the auction, please contact the Art Consultants Department.