32. In Conversation [1936]

Initially, Ghiaţă volunteered in the fifth military company and worked in the pharmacy of the military hospital to complete his mandatory service. Later, he held the position of medium preparer at the Institute of Serums and Vaccines led by prof. Ioan Cantacuzino, living in a room of the Institute. He carried out an intense artistic activity in his spare time, and even managed to audit the courses of art history held by professor Al. Tzigara-Samurcaș. Ioan Cantacuzino discovered, by chance, Ghiaţă's room full of paintings and drawings at the Institute and became interested in his artistic development. His exhibition debut took place in 1912 at the Atheneum, and later D. Ghiaţă began to frequent Arthur Verona's workshop. At his suggestion, the Ministry of Public Instruction awarded the painter-disciple a study scholarship abroad. Dimitrie Ghiaţă reached Paris, where he discovered, by visiting the museums, Cézanne's work. The initial contradiction the Romanian artist feels regarding the intransigent compositions and harsh chromaticity of the French painter slowly turns into admiration. Ghiaţă also adopted the geometrization of forms and adopted a bolder chromatic palette. He returned to the country in 1915 and took part in the "Exhibition of Living Artists", an opportunity to forge a close friendship with Jean Al. Steriadi. A meditative and modest spirit, Ghiaţă pragmatically extracted significant pictorial motifs from the most ordinary circumstances. With larger or smaller strokes, pressed or hastily, he transcribes groups of people, markets, or conversations. He is fascinated by the richness of traditional costumes, by their striking colorfulness and lavish patterns that load the material. He often depicted young peasant women from Oltenia, dignified and proud, adorned with their specific costumes. The markets provided him with a contemplative motif and a record of customs and famous dances. D. Ghiaţă timidly penetrates the psychology of his characters and transcribes their characteristics through gestures and grimaces. He focuses on building volumes and homogenizing them within the composition. His characters gain monumental proportions, reflecting the unrefined force of the entire opera. In the current opera, we can see the female character, slender and imposing, with the yellow headscarf that covers her hair and the entire back, strongly contrasting with the remainder of the chromatic range proposed by Ghiaţă. The elements of folklore encase the entire spirituality of the people through the harmony and chromatic refinement chosen by the artist.

References

Catalog of the Retrospective Exhibition "Ghiață D. Artist of the People", Bucharest, 1967. PREUTU, Marina, "Ghiață D.", Meridian Publishing House, Bucharest, 1977.

Dimensions

width 49.5 cm, height 59.5 cm

Description

oil on cardboard, signed lower left, in brown, "Ghiață D."

Research information

The work is reproduced in the monograph "Dumitru Ghiață", foreword by A.E. Baconsky, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1966, under the title "Meeting", cat. 63. The work is reproduced in "Retrospective Dimitrie and Aurelia Ghiață", volume 2. Books, Contemporary Literature Press, Bucharest, 2016, on page 44.

Dating

1936

PROVENANCE

Eng. Serban Tuculescu's collection.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For clarifications regarding the bidding procedure, hammer price costs, guarantee, payment, and collection terms for the winning lot, we recommend carefully reading/re-reading the Bidding Regulations.

For additional information regarding the lot and the auction, please contact the Art Consultants Department.