53. Show [1970]

The unusual rhythm of the compositions, the unity of the artistic conception, the personal chromaticity, and above all, the imaginary world drawn from tales and mythical visions convey a specific atmosphere that we feel within her works. She has adopted themes from her country to render them in a modern European manner. Dancers, musicians, traditional folklore customs, weddings, and parties she has seen in Dobrogea, understood now within the spirit of the Montparnasse school she came in contact with in Paris, have excited the artist's exuberance, matching up with fantasy and reality. The subjects of her paintings will resume, without repeating, several themes that will evolve in artistic quality, in the science of synthesizing and rendering the image with creative spontaneity, and their evolution may explain the artist's intentions. During the interwar period, the 1930s-1940s and immediately after, Magdalena Rădulescu created many works with ethnographic and dance themes. During this period, works such as "Hora" (1940), "Călușarii" (1945), "Fire Dancers" (1945), or "Dancer" (1944) appeared, where folk dance motifs are intensely, rhythmically, and expressively represented. She continued to include such themes in her works throughout her entire career, even after 1946, until nearly 1981. Thus, the works with dancers are part of her creation from the mid-1930s until the early 1980s, over a span of about four decades. As for the artist's creative style, it is personal and Romanian, with allusions to a dreamlike space. This celebratory style developed from her childhood, where Magdalena had the opportunity to participate in many village weddings and parties that she, over time, transferred into her works, alongside her inclination towards traditional, festive costumes, and decorations. Her works include a myriad of fantastical themes or images with gentle characters, all complemented by rich, carefully constructed clothing that wants to capture and describe their struggle and character as best as possible. In regard to the work at hand, which we can place in the period of the 1975s, its focus is given by the multitude of dancers within the scene and their diverse expressions. The scene captures a multitude of characters dancing, wearing elaborate and specific attire, due to the colors and accessories they wear. Most often, her characters have diverse, confused expressions with raised hands that seem to have no continuity or clear idea about what is going to happen within the scene, where they seem to be detached from their strict reality, living and floating in a dream world, separate from the real world they are in. The characters depicted wear red, blue, and green clothing. On looking at the representation within the composition, they are caught in the act of a dance, which perfectly aligns with the naturalness of Magdalena's artistic universe, where movement, color, and symbol coexist in a vibrant composition. The dynamism of the scenes, the costume elevated to the rank of identity, and the overlap of actions shapes a world full of energy, in which traditional folklore is reinterpreted through a modern and personal vision. Through this alert and exuberant artistic language, the artist not only depicts the rhythm of collective life, but proposes a poetic reading of the human spirit, transforming celebration into a celebration of vitality, belonging, and authentic expression.

References

ARDELEAN Alexandra, "Magdalena Rădulescu 120 Years of Bohemian Grace", Brașov Art Museum, 2022. DEAC Mircea, "Magdalena Rădulescu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1980.

Dimensions

width 61 cm, height 46 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed and dated bottom right, in black, "Magdalena Rădulescu, 1970"

Research information

The work is reproduced in the catalog "Magdalena Rădulescu: 120 years of bohemian grace", Alexandra Ilnițchi-Ardelean, Brașov Art Museum Publishing House, 2022.

Dating

1970

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