72. Portrait of a Turkish Man (Ismail)

Under the guidance of professor G.D. Mirea, he acquires the principles of Academism. He would manifest an obvious preference for adhering to classical norms, as well as a special concern with rendering lights and shadows. He prefers the concise rendering of models, yet he does not aesthetise; he values the clarity of drawing and of the rendered shapes. He would achieve a creation based on the mixture of Academism and Symbolism. Artachino skilfully combines two completely opposite characteristics: rigour and freedom of expression. In the construction of his works, just like Brecht, he values the distancing effect. Immersion no longer holds a place in the work's contemplation, the observer no longer needs to get completely lost in the world imagined by the artist, but instead he needs to become a rather detached observer, a conscious observer, perhaps even a critical observer of the universe created by the author. As a consequence, Artachino executes works in which he focuses his attention on a single subject. As a portrait painter, he wagers his model's expressiveness, chromatic contrasts, leaving up to the observer the key to the interpretation of the work.

References

"Constantin Artachino (1870-1954)", The National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest, 2004.

Dimensions

width 35.5 cm, height 53 cm, custom 53 × 35,5 cm

Description

oil on cardboard, signed bottom right, with black, "C. Artachino"

Research information

The artwork was part of the exhibition "Tinerimea Artistică" in 1942. The artwork is reproduced in the catalogue of the Tinerimea Artistică exhibition of 1942, under the title "Ismail din Turtucaia", at p. 39.

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