37. Coffee Shop in Balchik

Inaugurated in 1924, the landscapes of Dobrogea (first in Mangalia) caught the entire attention of the painter, who painted, drew, wrote and lived alongside the local Turks and Tatars throughout the summers spent there (until 1938). The changes in his painting regime are more than obvious, especially regarding the colour reconsideration, in bright light effect, which acquires the primary quality of modelling and harmonising the shape. The duet formed by the exotic picturesque, found in all corners of Mangalia, and the typical light was all the more relevant in the plastic discourse with the discovery of Balchik, which remained the last redoubt in Tonitza’s creation. Starting in the summer of 1933, when Tonitza "discovered" Balchik, the Dobrogea and maritime landscapes, he would be defined only by instances found here. During the 5 years spent in the "colony" of Balchik, Tonitza created, in parallel, both the typology of man, the local ethnic, keeper of the Oriental secrets, and the complete image of the place, in true artistic views. The cafés, the dusty houses, the millet beer house, the florists, the mosque and the cemeteries are painted in the light of the Dobrogea sun, in that typical, exotic atmosphere. Those first works made in Balchik were to be presented to the public between 6 and 31 May 1934, when Tonitza exhibited about 40 paintings depicting Dobrogea. The city and the views of Balchik become important subjects, Tonitza being charmed by various unprecedentedly picturesque corners, as is the case with this painting. He paints verandas, Caramitti's ladder, the lighthouse, the slum, the fisherman's house, the Turkish bath, Turkish gates, or the gorgeous gulf.

References

BREZIANU, Barbu, "Nicolae Tonitza", Ed. Arta Grafica, Bucuresti, 1967
Șorban, Raul, "Nicolae Tonitza", Ed. Meridiane, Bucuresti, 1965
COMARNESCU, Petru, " N.N.Tonitza" , Ed. Tineretului, Bucuresti, 1962

Dimensions

width 31 cm, height 30.5 cm, custom 31x30,5

Description

oil on cardboard, signed upper right, in brown, "Tonitza"

Research information

Opera a participat la expoziția "N. N. Tonitza - 110 ani de la naștere", Muzeul de artă Iași, martie-iunie 1996"

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