154. Basket with Apples

With a multitude of works revolving around the human being, Băncilă permanently asserts himself in Romanian art. Petunias, carnations, lilacs, peonies, roses, poppies or snowdrops give his canvases a chromatic implosion in which the artist includes his entire creative pathos. Whether he paints wild flowers or flowers found in his own garden, Octav Băncilă correlates the plant motif with the human emotion and perspective. The instinctive and repetitive strokes or the paste applied in thick layers become technical specificities constantly found in the artist's work. This time, he suggests a static nature in which the central floral element is abandoned in favor of the basket with apples, a recurring subject in the artist's work. In these works, dark tones predominate, and color becomes functional, becoming suggestive and amplifying the message of the work. Carefully studied, filled to the brim, even reaching outside, on the table, the woven basket supports the weight of the vegetal motif rendered in dark tones. A few shades of ochre reveal the light details, while the brown background and the black surface of the table create a subtle contrast.

References

COMAN, Anton, "Băncilă", State Publishing House for Literature and Art, Bucharest, 1954.

Dimensions

width 56 cm, height 41.5 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed top right, in brown, "Octav Băncilă"

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