17. Masks

The collection of Elena and Ioan Drăgan began to take shape in the early '70s when, following a professional trip to Iași, Elena Drăgan purchased the first painting from a local artist. Newcomers to the national art scene, the two made considerable efforts to acquire the works. Regarding the work "Masks" by Ion Țuculescu, Ioan Drăgan notes in his memoirs: "Later, Elena's inspired searches led us to the heiress, on her father's side, Ioana Țuculescu, who lived in a modest apartment block. Here, the revelation of contact with a painting that overwhelms your entire being was poignantly made. We felt, looking at the paintings shown by Ioana Țuculescu, with a restrained pride and discretion, as if we were actually in front of Van Gogh or Luchian canvases, but inspired under the grace and compositional and coloristic magic of the most brilliant peasant barks and masks. In fact, the Țuculescu retrospective at the Dalles Hall was for all art lovers a true and unforgettable revelation. It was the discovery of a painter hard to classify, at least for two laymen like Elena and myself (....). From the first visit, Ioana received us with much solicitude and confidence. We chose two canvases: Masks and Crosses (....). In addition, from Ioana's offer, we also chose a Chinese cult vessel - enamel-coated bronze partially with porcelain. Ioana and my wife grew closer in their appreciation of authentic art, so much so that she loaned us (did not accept selling) a painting unusual for the style of Țuculescu: Shells in Blue and Violet (oil on paper), probably an echo of his training as a biologist, a painting characterized by a color so intense (reminiscent of Expressionism) and luminous at the same time, as if it invaded the entire room with its expressiveness. Of course, we respected the agreement with Ioana: at the agreed term, we returned this unique painting in Țuculescu's painting. We regretted for the rest of our lives that we had made the mistake of alienating - for financial needs - the Crosses and the Chinese vessel. Just as we regretted immensely that we did not acquire other canvases that Ioana was willing to give us". (Ioan Drăgan, "Evocation"). The work "Masks" by Ion Țuculescu, considered by A.E.Baconsky in the monograph dedicated to the artist one of his masterpieces, is one that rarely appears in the public circuit, a work reproduced in multiple exhibition albums, with numerous participations in national and international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1966. In an artists' Olympics, Ion Țuculescu is the one who proudly represented us in 1966, and the aforementioned work is part of his creation recognized internationally at that time. As for the periodization, the work in the current auction is part of the last stage of the artist's creation, the totemic or symbolic period, as he himself named it. As Petru Comarnescu noted in the album dedicated to the painter, from 1967, "the expressive force that his powerful and disturbing images have - in colors of great vitality and sustained by rhythms that pulsate like thoughts and heart - does not belong only to the artist, but also to the sources from which he drew inspiration."

Dimensions

width 72 cm, height 60 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed lower right, in black, in monogram, "TUC"

Research information

The artwork was part of the exhibition "Masterpieces of Inter-war Romanian Painting in Private Collections", Cotroceni National Museum, Bucharest, 1997. The artwork was part of the Venice Art Biennale, XXXIIII edition, 1966 and is mentioned in the exhibition catalog at cat. 70. The artwork was part of the Romanian art exhibition in Copenhagen, 1967, and is mentioned in the exhibition catalog at cat. 63. The artwork was part of the exhibition in Le Havre, 1967. The artwork was part of the exhibition in Mannheim, 1979 and is mentioned in the exhibition catalog at cat. 55. The artwork was part of the "Contemporary Romanian Painting" exhibition, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, June-July 1973. The artwork is reproduced in "Ion Țuculescu" by A.E.Baconsky, Bucharest, Meridiane edition, 1972, cat. 63. The artwork is reproduced in "Țuculescu" by Petre Comărnescu, Bucharest, Meridiane edition, 1974, at cat. 58. The artwork was part of the exhibition "Landscape in Romanian Painting", Cotroceni National Museum, Bucharest, 1997. The artwork was part of the exhibition "Painting: D. Ghiață and I. Țuculescu", Museum of Art of the R.S.R., June-July 1979. The artwork was part of the retrospective exhibition at the Dalles Hall, Bucharest, 1965 and is mentioned at cat. 210. The artwork was part of the retrospective exhibition at the National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest, 1999 and is mentioned in the exhibition catalog at cat. 324.

PROVENANCE

Ioana Țuculescu collection; Adina Țuculescu collection; Elena and Ioan Drăgan collection.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

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