153. Peasant Woman

Ioan Andreescu's biography was a continuous research, the short life of the artist being scrutinised by chroniclers and art historians around 1900. His normal and artistic education do not tell us so much, as he was in school for a very short period of time. In 1863 he was enrolled at the Gh. Lazăr secondary school in Bucharest, then at the reputed "Sfântu Sava" College. Guided by his drawing teacher, C.I. Stăncescu, Andreescu enrolled in the School of Fine Arts in 1869. Andreescu studied drawing there, but some of his biographers think he may have also taken painting lessons (easily assumed in the context of the school). After graduating from the School of Arts in Bucharest, headed by Aman, Andreescu saw himself isolated in an environment lacking a direct infusion of art: with great difficulty, in 1872 he was employed as a teacher at the Episcopal Seminary of Buzău. Secluded in the country town, he began to work after nature: landscapes, still lifes and portraits. He had the epiphany of painting in January-February 1973, when, on the occasion of the Exhibition of the Friends of the Fine Arts Society at the Herdan Hotel in Bucharest, Andreescu could admire about 150 works by Nicolae Grigorescu. This is considered to be the turning point in Andreescu's career, who from that moment devoted himself to painting, and in just 6 years, until leaving for France, he became an artist of great qualities. It must be pointed out that at the expense of this extremely short interval, Andreescu succeeded even from the first year in Paris to be accepted with two works at the Official Salon (in 1879 with "Le commencement du printemps" and "Foire en Roumanie"). The few works that have been preserved from this period reflect some technical abilities, but most of them have slight obvious compositional mistakes. What is interesting is that since this early period, Andreescu's art has had a personal component, visible in the freedom of his brush, which contradicted the Academicism learned in school. From his personal universe we also get his first works, such as the "Child". Portraits and children’s faces - see "Portrait of a Boy", MNAR, item 3615 or "Peasant Girl", MNAR, item 2805 - appear at this stage (1973-1975), when Andreescu quickly absorbed every pictorial trait.

References

Catalog "Expoziţia comemorativă Ioan Andreescu 1850 – 1882: Anii de creaţie în ţară", Cuvânt înainte, Studiu şi Catalog comentat de Radu Bogdan, 21 decembrie 1982 – 6 februarie 1983, Muzeul Naţional de Artă al României
BOGDAN, Radu, "Andreescu. Volumul I: Artistul în epocă", Ed. Meridiane, Bucureşti, 1969
BOGDAN, Radu, "Andreescu. Volumul II: Posteritatea critică", Ed. Meridiane, Bucureşti, 1982
MEREUŢĂ, Iulian, "Andreescu", Ed. Meridiane, 1972

Dimensions

width 15 cm, height 29 cm, custom 15x29

Description

oil on canvas glued on cardboard, signed lower right, in brown, "And"

Research information

Opera este însoțită de certificat de expertiză și de analiză a operei realizat de Radu Bogdan, critic de artă și monografist al pictorului. Opera era autentificată de acesta în anii "80, pe când se afla în colecția Froim Feldmann.

PROVENANCE

historic collection of Dr. Kaufmann-Kosla; 1950-1960, collection of the art trader Iosif Tendler; until 1991, historic collection of Froim Feldmann.

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.