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BADEA-PĂUN, Gabriel, "Romanian Painters in France", Noi Media Print, Bucharest, 2012.
oil on cardboard, 61 x 74 cm, signed and dated bottom left, in brown, "Bălăcescu, 1932"
Research information
The work participated in the "Official Salon. Painting and Sculpture 1932" exhibition and is reproduced in the exhibition catalog.
According to the notations on the back and on the frame, the work likely participated in the Paris International Exhibition, 1937.
In the history of Romanian visual arts, Lucia Bălăcescu shapes her own distinctive style, easily identifiable, sometimes blurring the line between avant-garde and naive art. Her artistic journey finds its origins in attending the classes of the "Buser" Institute in Switzerland. The artist then arrives at the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest, where she has as mentors Ipolit Strâmbu, Dimitrie Serafim, Gheorghe Petrașcu, and Eustațiu Stoenescu. She then graduates, according to the tradition of the time, the curricula of the famous Parisian art academies and returns to her country, where she consistently participates in Bucharest exhibitions. In 1916, she joined the newly formed "Association of Women Painters and Sculptors", along with Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck, Olga Greceanu, and Nina Arbore. She continues to be an active presence both in the country's events, but also to appear on the list of exhibitors at international salons. The work of Lucia Bălăcescu stands out through the narrative illusion proposed by her plastic language. She adopts a color palette of Fauvist inspiration and paints parks, gardens, the sea, markets, or the rural world in real mural frescoes. Fauvism penetrates her painting starting with the 1930s when she gradually renounces Cezanne-type constructivism. She therefore adopts, starting with this decade, a much more eccentric style. Her fertile imagination and abstract spirit encompass the entire local color of the era in her representations dedicated to city landscapes. Her portraits or still life works are also remarkable. In still life, she chooses flowers as her main motif, but she often adds other plant or decorative elements. The work stands out through its exuberant color scheme and hastily applied brushstrokes, also demonstrating a perfect attention to detail. We therefore admire the pot of lilies (the work bearing on the back the Latin inscription "Amaryllis"), the art album, which reveals even on the cover the subject: "Arts Graphique Paris" and completely unexpectedly, the artist adds an otherwise meek pack of cigarettes. The organization of the composition, the color options, and the free play of brushstrokes contribute to the outlining of an impressive work, both in technique and style, and in dimension. Created in 1932, this work was presented to the public in the same year, at the "Official Salon. Painting and Sculpture" exhibition. According to the annotations on the back and on the frame, the work probably also participated in the 1937 International Exhibition in Paris. It is the year she was awarded a silver medal at this exhibition - for the pastel "The Lady and Her Painter". In 1937, Lucia Dem Bălăcescu also made her debut in journalism, at the newspaper "Timpul". A fruitful year, therefore, in her creation, despite all the challenges created by her physical condition.
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