26. Flight over the Plain [1955]

Artist and doctor, Ion Țuculescu manages to stand out in the history of Romanian art, developing an unmistakable visual repertoire. He is not satisfied with "beautiful images" and seeks to eliminate the "Platonic sweetness from art", his central subject being life itself, in all its depth and drama (Vlasiu, 1966, p.6). His interest in art is manifested from high school, when in 1925, he exhibited for the first time, alongside his brother, Șerban. During the same period, he briefly attended the "Free Academy of Fine Arts" led by the painter Freda Trybalski Delnevo. His first solo exhibition was organised in 1938, at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. His creation goes through several stylistic stages, but his desire to express the "mysteries of nature" and the "force of life" remains constant. A defining moment in his artistic journey takes place in 1935 when, while in Filipescu Park in Bucharest, he stops fascinated in front of a wall covered in moss. Overwhelmed by revelation, he goes to the "Romanian Book" store, where he asks for "all the colours with which the painters paint", then returns to paint the respective wall (Comărnescu, 1974, p.6). This fascination with biology, specific to both the artist and the doctor in him, is complemented in his painting by an openness towards the mystical and a personal reinterpretation of folk elements. Motives such as the "cross" and the "bird", specifics of peasant decoration, acquire in Țuculescu's vision a fantastic dimension, close to the world of fairy tales (Vlasiu, 1966, p.9). The work analysed, made in 1955, towards the end of his folk period, expresses exactly this duality. It is a stage where Țuculescu draws his inspiration from the decorative motifs of Oltenian kilims and embroideries. The rows of stylised leaves that sometimes look like eyes, the birds, the tree branches are no longer simple decorations, but metaphors that express the very beauty of nature. The repetition and crowding of elements refer to primitive art. Like archaic civilizations, Țuculescu chooses to neither refine, nor identically reproduce the elements in his composition. His pictorial approach separates him from the geometry specific to popular stylization, so that not nature "is subject to the bark mode, but the peasant motifs were subject to nature and a lyrical force that is stronger than them" (Comărnescu, 1974, p.16).

References

COMĂRNESCU, Petru, "Țuculescu", ed. Meridiane, Bucharest, 1974. RIZEANU, Paul, "History of Plastic Arts in Oltenia (1800-2000). Vol. II (1919-2000)", ed. Alma, Craiova, 2013. VLASIU, Ion, "Ion Țuculescu", ed. Meridiane, Bucharest, 1966.

Dimensions

width 61 cm, height 51 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed bottom left, in black, with the monogram "TUC"

Research information

The artwork was part of the retrospective exhibition at the Sala Dalles, Bucharest, 1965 and it is mentioned in cat. 121. The artwork was part of the Art Biennale in Venice, edition XXXIIII, 1966. The artwork was part of the Romanian art exhibition at Kunsterforbundet, Oslo, 1969. The artwork was part of the retrospective exhibition at the National Museum of Romanian Art, Bucharest, 1999. The artwork was part of the Romanian art exhibition in Paris, 1967. The artwork was part of the Romanian art exhibition at Liljevalchs Kunsthalle, Stockholm. The artwork was part of the exhibition "Ion Țuculescu. Amateur Genius", Art Safari, Bucharest, 2025. The artwork is reproduced in "Țuculescu" by Petru Comărnescu, Bucharest, Meridiane edition, 1974, cat. 33. The artwork is reproduced in "Ion Țuculescu" by Ion Vlasiu, Bucharest, Meridiane edition, 1966, cat. 56. The artwork is reproduced in "Hills and Plains - Ion Țuculescu and Horia Bernea" by Erwin Kessler, Bucharest, Vellant edition, 2015, page 127.

Dating

1955

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