99. Inner courtyard in Venice [1924]

With a sober and lyrical richness of colour through the solemn substrate, Petrașcu’s art reveals an intimate creative universe, within which we will occasionally see the landscape, as well. Delighted by the rural meadows and vineyards, by Dobrogea’s sand, by the monastic settlements from Viforâta, by Sighișoara’s walls, by Târgoviște, Vitré, Toledo or Venice, the artist Petrașcu forged genuine visual praises in approaching this genre. He went to Venice at the end of his student years (1902), when he went on a series of travels through the European cities (London, The Hague, Amsterdam, Berlin, München, Vienna, Brussels, Senlis, Zürich, Berna, Basel, Stockholm, Toledo),and he would fervently return starting from the 20s towards the first half of the 40s. He was impressed by sumptuous monuments, such as: the Doge’s Palace, the Ca' d' Oro Palace, San Marco Cathedral, the Campanile, the Santa Marcola Church, the Mobilieri Palace or the lofty Rialto Bridge. Lonely and silent, Petrașcu walked through these places for inspiration, absorbing their climate and spirit, which he would later render in virtuous canvases. Using the motifs inspired by the fortress, Petrașcu imagined a new city, charming, material and weighing heavily, with less transparent skies and darker palettes, kept in the bloody walls, traits of his personal Venice. (G.M.)

References

Catalogul „Expoziției G. Petrașcu”, Fundația Dalles, București, 21 mai – 1 iulie 1933. Catalogul „Expoziției comemorative G. Petrașcu”, Muzeul de Artă al RPR, București, octombrie – noiembrie 1957. OPRESCU, George, „Gheorghe Petrașcu”, Ed. Meridiane, București, 1963. CONSTANTINESCU, Paula; SCHOBEL, Doina, Expoziția de pictură „G. Petrașcu 1872-1972”, Muzeul de Artă al Republicii Socialiste România, București, 1972. FLOREA, Vasile, „Gheorghe Petrașcu”, Ed. Meridiane, București, 1989.

Dimensions

width 45 cm, height 34.5 cm, custom 34,5 × 45 cm

Description

oil on wood, signed and dated bottom left, with blue, "G. Petrașcu, (1)924"

Research information

The artwork participated in the exhibition "Valori artistice reprezentative din colecții bucureștene" ("Representative artistic values from Bucharest collections"), Romanian National Museum of Contemporary Art, Bucharest, 2002.

Dating

1924

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