103. Mallows [1935] [1935]

Getting both the precepts of the Munich academism and the Parisian Impressionism, Gheorghe Petrașcu succeeds to impose himself in Romanian painting by creating a new personal style. The excessive realism of his works is strongly related to the artist's studies in the natural sciences. The influence of the great universal masters over Petrașcu’s work is recorded by the critics of the time in an article dedicated to the retrospective exhibition "G. Petrașcu" in 1972. The succulent and shining paste reveals us Monticelli, and the structures made in cubist key indicate us Cezanne. Admirable in the posture of drawer, like Luchian, Petrașcu works directly from the colour, giving a particular consistence to the pictorial as mark of his personal style. The artist will insist on the familiar universe and will often include it in his canvases. His pencil followed repeatedly the contour of the apple, cooking vase and book. In his still lives, Petrașcu becomes a master of the light and shade by rediscovering the light embedded in matter. The execution force of the painter is revealed to us in the colour of the knife tip, the vibrant colour of the petals and the brilliance of the vase containing the flowers. The fluid appearance of the shapes depicted is frequently crowned by the use of black. The artist offers an excellent expressivity of this nuance, which he adopted almost set, in an attempt to capture on canvas the atmosphere of his studio, decorated with black, white and reddish accents.

References

OPRESCU, George, "Gheorghe Petrașcu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1963. DRĂGUȚ, Vasile, "Reîntâlnire cu pictura lui Petrașcu" ("Reencounter with Petrașcu's painting"), in Revista Muzeelor, no. 2, 1973, p. 116-120.

Dimensions

width 47 cm, height 38.5 cm

Description

oil on plywood, signed and localised bottom right, in blue, "G. Petrașcu, Tghiol"

Research information

The work participated in the "G. Petrașcu" exhibition, Dalles Foundation, March 3 - Marc 31, 1940, under the title "Flower, Mallows" and is reproduced in the exhibition's catalogue at cat. 23.

Dating

1935

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