145. Game Night [1941]

The 1930s mark a moment in the career of Alexandru Ciucurencu, characterized by his liberation from the remnants of the academic rigor absorbed during his studies in Bucharest. The beginning period of his creation is characterized by a discreet lyricism, with bright chords that possess a certain musical resonance. On pure, vibrant tones, the artist intervenes naturally with some black accents that underline an outline. At this stage, static natures and interior scenes predominate. Ciucurencu does not idealize the daily aspects of existence, but paints them according to his own perception. He captures his models in contemplative postures, seated on an armchair, lying on the couch, or while reading. He makes a few summary notations of the real frame and focuses on making a simple, concise design. Upon his return from Paris, Ciucurencu will be noticed for his pictorial refinement which abounds in sensitive waves of artistic expression. In this artwork, we find an interior scene, a tense card game between two characters. Red and blue tones dominate and a few strong light accents embedded in the depths of the color are distinguished. We identify the same spirit of observation and the same power of concentration of the protagonists in the artwork titled "The Chess Game", made two years later. If in the work from 1943 the game takes place within the androgynous couple seated on either side of a table well demarcated from the rest of the composition, in the current work we deal with the two protagonists immersed in a game of tabinet. Thus, we observe how Ciucurencu cuts out fragments of the everyday and transposes them with his specific mastery into pictorial motifs. He manages to delineate a fascinating positioning of warm tones next to the cool ones and ultimately succeeds in outlining an exuberant chromaticity.

References

JIANU, Ionel, "A. Ciucurencu", State Publishing House for Literature and Art, Bucharest, 1958. IONESCU, Radu, "Ciucurencu", Semne Publishing House, Bucharest, 1994.

Dimensions

width 49 cm, height 37.5 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed and dated top right, with black, ”AC, (1)941”

Dating

1941

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