63. A Priest (Ioan Pop) [1985]

Corneliu Baba's journals preserve within them notable accounts which the painter used to periodically note. On the third day of November, the year 1985, we find the following inscribed: "[...] Today I finished the portrait of the priest Ioan Pop from Cluj, which I started a while ago. [...] all aspects of portraiture are possible depending solely on the eye that directs them, the intuition and instinct that guide the painter's hand towards what is human, expressive, dramatic and of course indispensable from the obligatory dose of mystery. It's said that the portrait turned out well. [...]". Born on November 28, 1938 in Cluj county, Ioan Pop will graduate from the Orthodox Theological Seminary of Cluj and the Theological Institute of Graduate Degree from Sibiu. He will be ordained in 1963 and will start his pastoral activity in the same year, serving several parishes throughout his activity. During the period when Corneliu Baba painted this portrait, priest Ioan Pop served the "St. Nicholas" parish in Cluj. Corneliu Baba masters "the alphabet and the elementary grammar of drawing and painting”, as he himself claims, from early childhood. His father's workshop, the painter Gheorghe Baba, will serve as the first place of expression of his creative imagination. His vocation for portraiture and the vast sketches that the artist dedicates to the subject reveal to us, through the mastery of light and textures, the emphasis on the inner states that we find, moreover, in Rembrandt's works. The roots of portraiture manifestations are revealed early: in high school, Corneliu Baba was known as "the portraitist of the city": most of the notable personalities of Caransebeș posed for him. Gradually, he creates self-portraits, portraits of close ones or of renowned names such as: Tonitza, Enescu, Sadoveanu and Arghezi, or he focuses on particular subjects: the mad king, peasants or the harlequin. The realism specific to the artist's temperament will also extend in his work, and the predilection for the human figure will acquire an unpredictable and spectacular dynamic especially in portraits.

References

ȘUȘARĂ, Pavel, "Corneliu Baba", Official Monitor Publishing House, Bucharest, 2013. Corneliu Baba, "Confessions and Youthfulness. Volume IV: 1983-1997", Edition supervised by Maria Muscalu Albani, MNAR Publishing House, Bucharest, 2022.

Dimensions

width 60 cm, height 82 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed bottom right, in red, "Baba, (19)85"

Dating

1985

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