19. Tinker Woman with Pipe

Whereas the portraits made in his first period of creation, when his style is not yet definitive, still followed closely the academic rigour, in the second stage the artist made the transition to a much freer pictorial manner. He adopted precepts of Naturalism, but also continued using the teachings of Realism. Among his portraits, we note those dedicated to reputed personalities: Gheorghe Panaiteanu-Bardasare, Mihai Eminescu, Ion Creangă, or Sofia Nădejde. However, the artist also directed his attention to the working class, to the peasants, the soldiers, or the minorities, whose attire and customs he studied closely and thus managed to transpose their entire psychology into painting. His creation abounds in paintings inspired by the life of nomad gypsies. Octav Băncilă captures the carts roaming faraway lands by using eloquent colours, or the tents camped on the grass, in the very heart of nature. As far as types are concerned, the artist discloses his preference for the female character, who embodies the witch, the cartomancer, or the fortune teller. A painter of humankind and of nature, Băncilă places his gypsy women on fresh green, mauve, or blue backgrounds. The lively and poetic colours intermingle with the colourful scarves, the long skirts, in bright shades, as well as with the pipes or the sometimes mechanically forged smile. With their loose, pouring from underneath their scarves, the artist’s protagonists are svelte, rakish, and confident. Unlike the peasants depicted while working, the gypsies are also seen in more rakish and freer instances. Thus, the nomads are seen in contrast with other social categories which we distinguish in the artist’s work, being highly autonomous. (D.C.)

References

SĂTEANU, C., "Pictorul Octav Băncilă" ("The Painter Octav Băncilă"), in "Arta și Arheologia" ("Art and Archaeology"), year III, fascicle 4, 1930, p. 11-24. COMAN, Anton, "Octav Băncilă", State Publishing House for Literature and Art, Bucharest, 1954.

Dimensions

width 64 cm, height 89.5 cm, custom 89,5 × 64 cm

Description

oil on cardboard, signed bottom right, in brown, "Octav Băncilă"

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