141. The Green Parrot [2020]

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141. The Green Parrot [2020]

Ştefan Câlţia

1942, Braşov

Estimate:

EUR 20.000 - 30.000

Sold

EUR 40.000

References

GUȚĂ, Adrian; PAVEL, Amelia, ”Ștefan Câlția”, Possible Gallery, Bucharest, 2004.

oil on canvas, 65 x 45 cm, signed and dated bottom right, in pink, "Câlția, 2020"

The world as theater or the world as spectacle constantly appears in the work of Stefan Călția. Starting from the idea that "we are actors of this world", the artist opens a painting cycle dedicated to the spectacle. The world of spectacle in his creation appears, initially, in the form of the carnivalesque. The artist adopts the moralizing sense of the proposed characters, illustrates the fascinating world of the circus and presents a world turned upside-down. He outlines his repertoire from immediate reality and from his direct contact with divinity. He creates certain typologies that become leitmotifs in his creation, regardless of the theme chosen: the woman with wings, travelers, musicians, or the bird - understood as a means of connection with the celestial environment. In the transition from backstage to curtain of the characters, the artist demonstrates his mastery in illustrating magic realism, full of symbols, in a playful manner. The ambivalence of the semiotics proposed by the artist is revealed to us in simple motives, which have become the leitmotif. The artist is inspired by the stories built by Pieter Bruegel and the complex compositions of Hieronymus Bosch, and is heading towards unusual choices, with characters of reduced dimensions, which he places in a large space. Călția's protagonists tend to rise from the earth, hypnotized by the promise of a subjective perspective. In the canvases dedicated to the flight or journey, Ștefan Câlția is shown in the aspect of a visual narrator, while in the works that present the world as a theater, the artist assumes a double role: of set designer and playwright. Rich through the expressive force of the central characters, the present work impresses with its chromatic contrast. In the present work, the central motif is constituted by the flyer with the parrot, a motif that we often encounter throughout his work. Especially in the works made in the '70s or '80s, Stefan Călția hones his brush on canvases with monochrome backgrounds and unusual protagonists, but he revisits the motif later, thus laying the foundations of a complex cycle. Observe, therefore, was the theme extensively researched, starting from the '80s and continuing to the present day. The green parrot (we sometimes notice different chromatic values) is almost invariably present in the works dedicated to the world as a spectacle. The little creature usually accompanies the harlequin or the theater characters and often appears propped up on the boot carefully held by the central character. We unmistakably step into the atmosphere of spectacle and observe the encryption of the theatrical convention by introducing elements such as the curtain or the stage. The lighting revealed through the effects of light and shadow also supports the tacit agreement proposed by the artist.

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