97. Still Life with Carnations and Books [1946]

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97. Still Life with Carnations and Books [1946]

Alexandru Ciucurencu

1903, Ciucurova, Tulcea - 1977, Bucureşti

Estimate:

EUR 15.000 - 25.000

Not sold

References

IONESCU, Radu, "Ciucurencu", Semne Publishing House, Bucharest, 1994. OPRESCU, George, "Alexandru Ciucurencu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1962.

oil on cardboard, 59.5 x 49 cm, 59,5 Ã 49 cm, signed and dated bottom right, with blue, "AC, (19)46"

His study years in Paris pique his interest in Matisse, whom he would also use as a source of inspiration for emphasizing the line and the shades in his own work. As the successor of Post-Impressionism, he takes on some of the traits associated with this movement: the chromatic autonomy and the use of strong, vivid shades, without shying away from adding black to his works; strong brush strokes are easily distinguished; his subjects are inspired b immediate reality, sometimes being simply sketched or even geometrically drawn. Being considered a master of light and colour, Alexandru Ciucurencu exerts an unlimited freedom of artistic expression, masterfully matching lines and tones. In his still life flower paintings, the vessel in which plants are placed is given a well-contoured shape, unlike the flowers, which appear rather sketched. Ciucurencu admires the flowers painted by his predecessors, especially Luchian. He draws inspiration from the artist's work, yet the style in which his flowers are represented rather emphasize the chromatic, whilst the shape is given a secondary importance. Just like several still life paintings achieved by the artist throughout his life, his choice to represent contrasts translates to the illustration of a bright red table cloth, in the immediate proximity of the blue-indigo wall. Some accents of white, pink or yellow are identified in the flowers' execution, and the sinuous black line completes the profile of the illustrated objects. The colour obsession would never leave him, yet he would direct his attention towards achieving a compositional harmony by joining together lights, shades and contrasts. He acquires these values during his studies in Paris, under the guidance of professor Lhote. He senses Ciucurencu's needs and directs him towards perfecting his qualities. This way, the artist's creation would see a real progress after his return from Paris. Ciucurencu would be more pretentious, but also more refined in the creation process, he would handle tones with even greater attention, being concerned with illustrating accents and the objective capturing of shapes, especially within his still life paintings.

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