83. Boating on the Lake

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83. Boating on the Lake

Theodor Aman

1831, Câmpulung Muscel, Argeş - 1891, Bucureşti

Estimate:

EUR 8.000 - 15.000

Sold

EUR 14.000

References

RADU, Bogdan, "Theodor Aman", State Publishing House for Literature and Art, Bucharest, 1955. FLOREA, Vasile, "Theodor Aman", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1965.

oil on wood, 14 x 21 cm, signed bottom right, in red, "Th. Aman"

Research information

The work is reproduced under the name "Boating on the Lake", in "Lexicon critic Èi documentar. Pictori, sculptori Èi desenatori din RomÃ¢nia. Secolele XV-XX" ("Critical and Documentary Lexicon. Painters, sculptors and drawers from Romania. 15th-20th centuries"), Mircea Deac, Medro Publishing House, Bucharest, 2008, at cat. 4, page 18. A version of the work is reproduced under the title "Boatman Angling", in the "Opera inaccesibilÄ. Acuarela lui Theodor Aman" catalogue ("Inaccessible Work. Watercolour by Theodor Aman"), "Theodor Aman" Musem, Bucharest, 2019, cat. 18, page 27.

PROVENANCE

the collection of Dr. Valeriu Tempea.

His talent will be discovered in the first instance by the painter Constantin Lecca, portraitist and author of monumental frescoes, who will pass on to Aman his knowledge of the mysteries of art. Arriving in Paris, young Aman will be admired by Barbu Iscovescu, academic painter who will guide him towards the study of Romanian historical painting. Known as one of the most representative personalities of local realist painting, Theodor Aman takes up, especially in portraiture, the academic line promoted by the revolutionary painters of 1848. He goes beyond the imitative stage and renders, with its true creative force, the moral traits and character of his protagonists. He also excels at composing historical paintings, where he reiterates the role of the hero in the tumultuous action. He does not stray too far from reality, but he creates a rigorous discipline and a painting technique from which he will not deviate. The artist gave, in the second part of his creation, a particular attention to the landscape. In this la stage of his work, marked by trials and experiments, Theodor Aman detaches himself from the realist-academic training and takes on the specific characteristics of plein-air painting. He does not adopt thoroughly the impressionist manner, but he develops brightness mapping techniques and takes on a more serene colour palette. Full of details, Aman’s landscapes keep a social note - a personal mark of the artist’s style. The idyllic conceptualism of his landscapes stands in stark contrast to the historical first stage of his creation. In the last twenty years, the artist’s work will find a wider creative horizon and the renunciation of the rigours imposed by academism. It is the part in which he detaches himself from the workshop and familiarizes with the issues involved in outdoor painting. Whether they are transpositions of parks in Bucharest or reproductions of corners of his own garden, the works specific to this period are small in size and often crowned by human presence. We can see the man caught in the middle of nature, walking in the park or in a boat, ready to prepare his nets for fishing. Gifted with the skill of the historical chronicler, Aman creates landscapes that become true testimonies of his era.

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