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oil on canvas glued to cardboard, 40.5 x 70.5 cm, signed, dated and located lower right, in black, "Nicolae Vermont, 1925, Paris"
During his mature years between 1900-1918, Nicolae Vermont focuses on improving and better defining the portrait. In regard to their execution, emphasis is placed on psychological features, highlighting the moral peculiarities of the depicted character, intending to capture the concern with the character and morality of the person portrayed. In executing his nudes, the artist is inspired by the tradition of the great masters of chiaroscuro, especially in the style of Rembrandt, visible in the modeling of volumes and in accentuating shapes through bright contrasts, where a few examples of works approached in this style are: "Bacchus", "Composition with Nudes", "The Adoration of the Shepherds", "The Baptism" or "The Road to Golgotha". The presented work is dated 1925 and focuses on the representation of a female nude, located indoors, in a room. Vermont delicately and introspectively explores the female body, caught in the posture of a woman seated on a white material, leaning slightly back, in an atmosphere of quiet and reflection. The composition impresses with a diffuse light, which seems to delicately envelop shapes and blur contours in a subtle game of shadows and transparencies. The restrained color scheme, dominated by warm beige and white tones, not only harmonizes the entire scene visually, but amplifies the sensation of intimacy and refinement. The slightly dreamy facial expression of the character, with relaxed features and lost gaze, evokes a state of profound introspection, almost melancholic. Vermont does not transform the nude into a mythological or symbolic apparition, but keeps it in an everyday, natural setting. The vulnerability of the model thus becomes a visual language, a silent invitation to the viewer to penetrate beyond appearances, into the inner universe of the character. Between light, color, and expression a subtle balance is created, and the sensuality of the work is not explicit, but suggested by the atmosphere, visual silences, and delicate particulars. In Nicolae Vermont's representation of the scene, we can observe his concern for accurately rendering the character without excessive idealizations, close to a realistic and sensitive view of anatomy, and in the case of Rembrandt's representations of the female nude, most often, he focuses on full, rounded forms, with imperfections. The silhouette is not idealized, but modeled through a strong chiaroscuro, which gives volume and shape. Nicolae Vermont anchors the nude in this way in an everyday, close and natural register, where volume and imperfection become expressions of deep humanity. The nude becomes not just a decorative symbol but a form of reflection on fragility, authenticity, and the human condition, inviting the viewer to a sincere observation of her vulnerability and non-idealized beauty. (S.S)
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