29. Apple Blossoms [1903-1904]

The joy of painting the miracle of nature is the message that the artist transmits to us through this small-sized work, a format that he favors, because it allows him exercises of virtuosity. The blossoming branch, which evokes Grigorescu's favorite season, was a recurring theme of the work in the second part of his creation, a theme harmonized with the artist's sensitivity for the extreme oriental stamp. The tenderness of the petals radiating light, the transparency of the glass cup and the water, the lighting direction resulting from contrasting with the dark background, all together constitute a sophisticated and complex pictorial subject that clearly delights Grigorescu. The composition is set off by emphasizing the verticality of the rectangular support. A mark of the period around the year 1900, the shining and vibrating brushstroke that synthetically, masterfully, recreates nature is set spontaneously, with unbeatable certainty. Alongside the marks of the brush, the dominant instrument, the artist marks the painterliness with a few accents laid down with a palette knife. Infinite shades of white and pink suggest the softness and freshness of the flowers, while, with a mastery whose means remain almost secret, the artist achieves the suggestion of the glass cup's transparent materiality. Several such paintings made by Grigorescu on similar plywood supports allow the inclusion of this one in a remarkable series of variations on the same theme, of which we mention: "Bouquet of bright flowers" (Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Agen, France, inv. 305 BR; 35 x 21 ), "Cherry blossoms" from the Brașov Art Museum (inv.144; 45 x 24, 5), "Cherry blossoms" (collection of Queen Elisabeta, 1910; 34 x 21; reproduced in Vlahuţă, 1910, p. 218). (I. B.)

References

VLAHUȚĂ, A., “The Painter N.I.Grigorescu. His Life and Work”, Bucharest, Edition of the School Houses, Socec, 1910. DRĂGĂNUȘ, Ovidiu, “Nicolae Grigorescu in the art gallery of the Regional Museum Braşov”, Sibiu, Polygraphic Enterprise, 1967. BELDIMAN, Ioana, IANCOVESCU, Ioana, DRĂGOI, Livia, “Seulescu-Stere Collection”, Prahova County Art Museum, Ploieşti, EDIT ART, 2003. "Nicolae Grigorescu1838-1907, Itinerary of a Romanian painter from the school of Barbizon to Impressionism”, Somogy Art Editions, Paris, 2006.

Dimensions

width 14 cm, height 23.5 cm

Description

oil on wood, signed lower right, in red, "Grigorescu"

Research information

The work is inventoried, catalogued and reproduced in the Remus Niculescu archive, the artist's monograph for over 50 years.

Dating

1903-1904

PROVENANCE

1950s Olga Șerban collection; Titus Popescu collection; private collection, Bucharest.

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