86. After the Rain at Băneasa [1902-1904]

The main pictorial motifs that were captured by Ștefan Luchian appear in his imagination after 1900. The paradox is that at the end of 1901 the artist remained partially paralyzed as a result of a spinal disease, but he continued to work, in the following years creating his most accomplished works. In his landscapes, his commitment to life becomes clear, through the cheerful rhythms created by the broad strokes and the contrasts between the bright colors and the delicate tones. Luchian is a painter of summer nature, of light full of warmth and of the celebration of vegetable life, most of his landscapes being lyrical evocations of life-generating rhythms of the universe and of the joy of living. The years 1908 and 1909 mark an apex in the landscape dimension of his work, the impressions left by the summer months in which he painted in Brebu and Moinești following him for a long period of time. His stay in Brebu was beneficial to Luchian, helping him to regain his strength and bringing him fulfillment in his creative plan, as it emerges from a letter in which he recounted his life there. In Brebu he worked in pastel and colored pencils, techniques that allowed him to transpose directly and accurately the effects of light and the color changes of plants under its action. The velvety shades of pastel suited his sensitivity, likening them to the dust on butterfly wings. In dialogue with nature, he constantly wondered what the landscapes that attracted him were like and what was characteristic of them, to reflect it. Painted in a rapid technique, namely watercolor, the present landscape presents one of the study stays undertaken by Luchian at the beginning of the 20th century. The painter captures a typical view for impressionists, being attracted by the light effect specific to a certain moment - in this case, after the rain. The work also knows a version in oil, a fact that highlights the importance of the motif in Luchian's landscape work. "After the Rain in Băneasa" knows an interesting documentary path, being mentioned for the first time in the chronicle dedicated by Leo Bachelin (the librarian of the Royal House) in 1914, following the Luchian-Dărăscu exhibition.

References

CEBUC, Alexandru, Luchian, Official Monitor, Bucharest, 2007 CIOFLEC, Virgil, Luchian, National Culture Publishing, Bucharest, 1924 COMARNESCU, Petru, Luchian, State Publishing for Literature and Art, Bucharest, 1955

Dimensions

width 35 cm, height 18 cm

Description

watercolor and pencil on paper, signed bottom left, in ink, "S. Luchian"

Research information

The artwork participated in the "Luchian-Dărăscu" exhibition, Romanian Athenaeum Palace, Exarcu Hall, February 1914. The artwork participated in the inauguration exhibition of the Ioan I. Dalles Foundation, "Andreescu-Grigorescu-Luchian" exhibition, Bucharest, 1932, cat. 20. The artwork is reproduced in the "Luchian" monograph, Petru Comarnescu, Ionel Jianu, E.S.P.L.A., Bucharest, 1956 at cat. 101, page. 141. The artwork participated in the "Ştefan Luchian" exhibition, Art Museum of R.P.R, July 16th-November 10th 1957 and is mentioned in the exhibition catalog at cat. 203, page. 87. The artwork participated in the "Luchian. Landscape and outdoor composition" exhibition, Art Museum of R.S.R., Bucharest, 1968 and is mentioned and reproduced at cat. 79, page. 134. The artwork is mentioned and described by art critic Leo Bachelin in "Exposition Luchian et Dărăscu", from "La Politique", Feb 28/March 13, 1914: "Village de Băneasa, a fine watercolor where gray and blue notes are of exquisite delicacy". The artwork is mentioned in the catalog of the retrospective exhibition "M.W. Arnold", Art Museum of R.S.R., catalog by Georgeta Peleanu, Bucharest, 1970 at page. VII. The artwork participated in the "Luchian and the Independents" exhibition, Artsafari 2017 and is reproduced in the exhibition catalog at page. 98. On the back, a participation label in the "Ştefan Luchian" exhibition, Art Museum of R.P.R, July 16th-November 10th 1957.

Dating

1902-1904

PROVENANCE

Elena and Dr. Iosif Dona's collection; Maruca Dona's collection; the heritage of the Art Museum of the Socialist Republic of Romania; the heritage of the Art Collections Museum attached to the National Art Museum of Romania; Dr. Șerban Andronescu Ghika's collection.

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