157. Venetian Landscape

In his youth, Ion Țuculescu oscillated for a long time between science and art. He chose to study medicine at the University of Bucharest and painting as an autodidact. He graduated from medicine "magna cum laude" and made his debut as a science teacher. However, the chosen professional path allowed him to continue to dabble in painting. He introduces himself as a painter in 1938, within a personal exhibition organized in the Romanian Athenaeum building. Endowed with the advantages of an autodidact, he conducted free studies, "after nature and after masters", as he himself states. He would use his dual vocation, as a biologist and creator, to transcribe genuine pages of nature onto canvas with the inventiveness of a scholar. He retraced the travels of his predecessors in the Mediterranean East and in the major western capitals, thus recovering the visual material necessary for future artistic experiments. He drew inspiration from Petrașcu, Andreescu or Luchian, but also paused on Van Gogh or Gauguin. His artistic space, infinite and with unusual manifestations, is traversed by artificial luminosity and a brutal chromaticity that became a leitmotif. His ornamental chords are embedded in accents of black, a shade he assimilates from Petrașcu's works. He keeps recognizable fragments of the real space he is inspired by, but modifies them in accordance with his own stimuli. From the rapeseed fields and panoramic views of Romanian villages to the Venetian canals, stone bridges, and colorful buildings of Italy, Ion Țuculescu takes us, through his works, on an indisputable journey around the world. Whether he works in oil, or transposes the city landscape into watercolor, the artist aims at turning the canvas into a visual diary of his own life. Țuculescu remains in the history of Romanian art as the amateur turned professional, with an immeasurable power to revitalize the outdated stylistics of folk art.

References

VLASIU, Ion, "Ion Țuculescu"; Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1966. COMARNESCU, Petre, "Țuculescu"; Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1974. CÂRNECI, Magda, "Ion Țuculescu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1984.

Dimensions

width 29 cm, height 23 cm

Description

watercolor on paper

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