26. Bear Tamer Family [1882]

The craftsmanship and academic vision will be acquired by the artist following the studies conducted under the guidance of the two founding professors of the Fine Arts School of Bucharest - Theodor Aman and Gheorghe Tattarescu. Sava Henția will also specialize in Paris, being guided here by the painter Alexandre Cabanel. Remarkable especially as a portraitist, Henția will evolve from mastering lines and volumes to the science of color and chromatic combinations. From front-painting (which he deepens in the volunteering undertaken in 1877), to portraits, landscapes, or genre scenes; the artist will assume and perfect his style, managing to master it so well that he will later acquire the position of a pedagogue, from which he will teach his students drawing and calligraphy for over two decades. The period 1879-1894 is decisive in the evolution of the artist who will now adopt the deepest influences of international trends in his work. As an observer of rural life, he will transpose monumental scenes into horizontally unfolded compositions of considerable proportions. Market scenes will be very popular among his works, and some of these are now in reputable museum collections. The study of characters represented another important branch of Sava Henția's creation. From self-portraits to portraits dedicated to the family, we will notice the artist's extraordinary ability to detail the faces he paints. Regardless of the social status of his characters, the artist does not shy away from almost photographic transcription, of an academic invoice, of their features. In the current work, the three characters - two men and a woman - become representative of the rural traditions and customs of time. The tambourine and the bear indicate the protagonists' belonging and provide us with precious details about their psychology. The bear trainers or bear tamers were, as the name suggests, that branch of nomads whose objective was the training of animals. They organized fair shows, street shows, or even acted in markets and thus managed to earn the necessary daily living income. Bear trainers were a subject of interest in Romanian art, featuring in compositions signed by artists such as Theodor Aman (both in paintings and engravings), Arthur Verona or Carol Popp de Szathmari.

References

POPA, Cristian Ioan, "In search of Cinderella. The Landscape in the work of the painter Sava Henția (1848-1904)", Terra Sebus.

Dimensions

width 59 cm, height 76 cm

Description

ulei pe pânză, signed and dated lower left, in black, "S. Henția, 1882"

Dating

1882

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