31. Flowers in a Green Vase [1940-1945]

"Apolonian and solar", as Petru Comarnescu remarked, Francisc Șirato will introduce the effects of chiaroscuro in color planes and will achieve a firm agreement between theme, vision, and technique. Francisc Șirato's beginnings are tangentially linked to impressionism, but the artist feels that this artistic movement limits him too much to the passive-decorative function of the canvas. The sources of his inspiration can be easily identified in Romanian folk art and in Cézanne's visual vision. From the latter, the artist is concerned with balance and compositional organization, while Romanian folk art will serve as a benchmark for the fascinating science of color. Nature appears in his creation as a prime source of inspiration. Starting with the '30s, flowers will increasingly make their presence felt in his creation. The ornamental decor, with rustic accents, as well as the fullness and vitality of the floral elegies, will establish the artist as one of the important cultural personalities of the past century. In this work, he creates a true microcosm in which he flawlessly inserts fragments belonging to his reveries. He will constantly refer to nature and will use bright colors through which he will synthesize the ambient light in which he carries out his activity. On a background of intimate inspiration, a space that could be discerned as his own workshop, the flower vase occupies the foreground of the composition in which the artist introduces us, without hesitation, into his familiar universe. Francisc Șirato will revisit this motif throughout several paintings, taking on flowers and the book as his favorite subjects. We therefore find long-studied compositions dedicated to the theme. Chromatic harmony is concentrated in the central plane, in the synergy of the red, white, and green variations. The reflective temperament is undoubtedly revealed to the public through the meticulous study of nature and the surrounding environment. The artist stands out through the exaltation of nuances and the demarcation of brush strokes, but also through the way he maintains the vibration and warmth of human presence in static natures where he mainly focuses on the objects. Arranged in several planes, the elements chosen by the artist succeed in a lyrical unfolding of meanings and enhance their aesthetic value mutually.

References

DRAGUT, Vasile, "Fr. Sirato", State Publishing House for Literature and Art, Bucharest, 1956. ISPIR, Mihai, "Sirato", Meridians Publishing House, Bucharest, 1979.

Dimensions

width 30.5 cm, height 40.5 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed bottom left, in brown, "Șirato"

Research information

The artwork participated in the "Francisc Șirato Exhibition", Art Museum of the P.R.R., Bucharest, 1965, cat. 61, under the name "Flowers in green jar" and is reproduced in the exhibition catalog on page 105. The artwork is reproduced in "Francisc Șirato", preface by Dan Grigorescu, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1967, cat. 49.

Dating

1940-1945

PROVENANCE

Prof. Univ. Marcel Breazu Collection

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