85. Elegance (Portrait of Mrs. Anagnostiades) [anii '30]

The beginning of Eustațiu Stoenescu's career is marked by the years spent in the vicinity of Jean-Paul Laurens, the French master who will coordinate his artistic directions for over a decade. After this initial stage, Stoenescu's creation will take shape in French modernity, his works finding much more easily, resonance in the context of the Western European public. This fact was also marked by a passion for portraiture, a passion that will carry him to important countries in Europe such as France and Great Britain. His career as a portraitist was going to give Stoenescu the financial freedom necessary for experiments, travels and artistic concepts that were to place him among the great masters of Europe. With a limited thematic repertoire, focused on portraits, genre scenes, landscapes, or still lifes, the most cultivated will be the portrait, within which he will try to achieve as many works in this direction. In his portraits, he will emphasize the gravity of the dark color, the human truth, the features, the details, and the psychology of the character, where a few examples in this regard are: "Portrait of the French writer A. Rameau", "Portrait of Professor Jean-Paul Laurens", "Little peasant girl with red beads" or "Princess Ileana". Thus, the expressivity of his unmistakable style consists in the mastery of a sure drawing, through the vibrant brushwork and through the practical approach of the black on the background of the works. Most of the characters represented in his paintings are enveloped in darkness in the background, and because of this element his scenes will acquire a sublime note of mystery. As for the present work, it portrays the portrait of Mrs. Anagnostiades, probably a personality from the high society of the epoch, depicted in an imposing posture. With a serious expression, but also of unbeatable nonchalance, she wears a clothing item in shades of white and black, around her neck there are two strands of pale pink beads. Her attitude emanates nature, culture, and mystery. Her beauty is highlighted by the red cheeks, by the thin and arched eyebrows under which her brown eyes sparkle gently. The brushwork is vibrant, with predominantly short and rapid strokes. The chromatic range is rendered through a strong chiaroscuro, from the shades of white of her outfit to the dark tones of colors of the thin material that is worn on top of the white one, thus creating an atmosphere of sensuality and mystery.

References

Paul Rezeanu, "Eustatiu Stoenescu", Meridiane Publishing, Bucharest, 1983.

Dimensions

width 70.5 cm, height 101 cm

Description

ulei pe pânză, signed bottom left, in ochre, "E. Stoenescu"

Research information

The work is reproduced on the cover of the magazine "Duminica Universului" from May 31, 1931, with the title "Portrait of Mrs. Anagnostiades".

Dating

anii '30

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