93. Baroque

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93. Baroque

Gheorghe Fikl

1968, Timişoara

Estimate:

EUR 7.000 - 12.000

Sold

EUR 12.000

oil on canvas, 153 x 210.5 cm, 153 Ã 210,5 cm, signed bottom left, with black, "Fikl"

Gheorghe Fikl’s painting illustrates bizarre worlds, where nature and decadent luxury coexist in an oneiric mix. The association between domestic animals and baroque decors creates a seductive contrast, intended to take the onlooker to remote worlds, away from the prosaism of everyday life. The works are preponderantly large, to allow room for both brush strokes, and the towering scenery to reveal themselves. The scenes seem almost theatrical, and the animals around which Fikl gravitates also suggest a multitude of symbols. These animals are illustrated like icons, which are, however, emptied of metaphysical meaning. The animals are not in their natural setting, but rather they are placed under chandeliers and rotundas, surrounded by heavy tapestries, referencing both the highest measure of civilization and its privileges, as well as the extravagances of the theatre world. Frozen in time and space, the animals seem to present themselves before events known only to them, like pagan premonitions. In spite of the abundance and the elegance of the props in the compositions, no trace of hedonistic relaxation, but rather a hidden, lugubrious, even threatening mystery prevails. They vehemently indicate the excess of humanity and the departure from nature. Fikl had personal painting and photography exhibitions in Timişoara - the latest at the National Museum of Art, as well as at Luxemburg and New York. His works can be found in private collections from the country and from abroad (including the collection of the Prince of Wales, that of the Maria Nobrega Foundation, and the Bonte Foundation collection).

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