17. Return from the Fair [1875]

Blending several genres of painting - landscape, rustic genre scene, animal painting - Nicolae Grigorescu inscribes this work into a theme that belongs to realism with rural subjects. The central motives of these themes explored in his artistic corpus were identified by the artist during the 1860s at the Barbizon School, where he came into contact with artists concerned with representing simple life and nature. Made in 1875, a year after his return from his trip to Italy, the present work is part of an initial chapter dedicated by Nicolae Grigorescu to the motive of returning from the market (implicitly also of ox carts), resumed throughout his creation. Inspired by the European artists he met on his travels at that time and their art, the artist adopts painting techniques such as "dal vero" (directly from reality) and a more free and innovative approach, which manifested in procession scenes and returns from religious holidays or from markets. He transposes them into variants specific to Romanian nationality, adapted to the distinct characteristics of native society. The work stylistically differs from his later paintings on the same theme. If in the 1880s-1890s the artist preferred a quick, dynamic and synthetic touch, here the form is built more descriptively, using techniques close to drawing. This is observed in the rendering of the cart wheels or in the careful way of representing animal anatomy. Thus, he leans towards a more balanced artistic vision, where the sky, atmosphere and light are suggested by discreet strokes, without the energetic gesturality that will later become his style brand. However, his unmistakable pictorial language is already beginning to take shape. For example, the small group of characters on the left is masterfully depicted with a few quick accents of white and pink, suggesting volume and movement. This mode of expression characteristic of the years 1870-1875 appears in a limited series of landscapes with genre scenes, considered the first great moment of his masterpieces on this theme. Among these, "Returning from the Fair", located at the National Museum of Art of Romania, stands out, where the ample sky and a red umbrella recall the influences of the Impressionists.

References

BELDIMAN, Ioana, COSMA, Gheorghe, "Nicolae Grigorescu, painting graphic", Bucharest, Art Museum of the S.R. Romania, 1984 BOURET, Jean, "School of Barbizon and French landscape in the 19th century", Editions Ides et Calendes, Neuchâtel CIOFLEC, Virgil, "Grigorescu", National Culture, Bucharest, 1925 DRĂGĂNUȘ, Ovidia, "Nicolae Grigorescu in the Art Gallery of the Regional Museum Braşov", Braşov, 1967 NICULESCU, Remus, "N. Grigorescu, Exhibition Catalogue", Bucharest, RPR Art Museum, 1957 OPRESCU, G. [-R.Niculescu], "N.Grigorescu", vol 1, Ed.Meridiane, Bucharest, 1961

Dimensions

width 37 cm, height 18 cm

Description

oil on cardboard, signed and dated bottom left, in brown, "Grigorescu, 1875"

Research information

The work is inventoried, cataloged and reproduced in the Remus Niculescu archive, the artist's monographer for over 50 years. The work is reproduced in the monograph "Nicolae Grigorescu", Lelia Rudașcu, E.S.P.L.A., Bucharest, 1955 at cat. 36 under the title "Returning from the Fair".

Dating

1875

PROVENANCE

The collection of the diplomat Theodor Emandi and his wife, the writer Elena Emandi

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