61. Violin Studies (Yehudi Menuhin)

Corneliu Baba acquires "the alphabet and elementary grammar of drawing and painting", according to his own words, even since he was a child. His father's studio, painter Gheorghe Baba, would serve him as a first location for expressing his creative imaginary. Across time, Baba would stand out especially as a portrait painter. He approaches as recurring motifs and themes which he develops in an impressive number of paintings and drawings. In the artist's work, we can identify the "Fears" cycle, where we can notice resemblances with Munch or Goya, the "Crazy King" cycle, as well as the cycle dedicated to country life. His predilection for the human being is transposed into drawings and paintings dedicated to important cultural personalities or public figures. Names such as Mihail Sadoveanu, Lucia Sturdza Bulandra, George Enescu, Nicolae Tonitza, Tudor Arghezi, Yehudi Menuhin, Anatole France, Goethe or Balzac make frequent appearances in Corneliu Baba's work. The artist admires Iser, Pallady or Tonitza and especially Gheorghe Petrașcu. He begins his studies at the Bucharest Belle-Arte Academy, under the guidance of Constantin Artachino, and accomplishes his artistic formation in Iași. At the same time, he pursues his studies at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, he reads Anatole France, Balzac, Flaubert or Dostoiesvki, goes to the opera, visits art galleries and spends a lot of time at the Royal Foundation Library. Naturally, the artist acquires philosophical themes which he transcribes in his work as reflections over shape and chromatic. His colour range evoke the underlying presence of darkness, as well as a nocturnal plastic language. His virtuosity consists of approaching the dramatic side of existence and processing it into true works of art. The artist's childhood was deeply signed by his passion for music, which materialised into an intense study of the violin. In 1920, at the Craiova National Theatre, Corneliu Baba listens to George Enescu for the first time. His appreciation for the Romanian composer and musician comes to fruition into a series of works dedicated to the artist. However, George Enescu is not the only violinist depicted by Corneliu Baba on his canvases. The profile and kippah of the artist appearing in the current work reveals us the identity of conductor Yehudi Menuhin, who also appears in some of Maestro Baba's drawings, included in the Romanian Academy’s Print Cabinet collection. Born in New York, Menuhin arrives in Romania in 1927, where he would start studying the violin alongside George Enescu, who would strongly influence him in his artistic evolution.

References

ȘUȘARĂ, Paul, "Corneliu Baba", Official Journal Publishing House, Bucharest, 2013. BABA, Corneliu, "Confesiuni și Jurnale" ("Confessions and Diaries"), vol. I: 1944-1965, edited by Maria Muscalu Albani, National Art Museum of Romania Publishing House, Bucharest, 2018.

Dimensions

width 60 cm, height 80 cm, custom 80 × 60 cm

Description

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

colecția sculptorului Vladimir Sulschi, anii '60

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