70. Portrait of Emilia Dona [1870 -1875]

The compositional portrait of Emilia Dona (?-1890) depicts the model in full figure, seated on a chair, and seen from the side, with the character predominantly situated in the left area of the image. Projected onto the dark background, the face looks at us from the center of the image, frontally, allowing Grigorescu to convey what he investigated - the delicate femininity of the features, the warmth and melancholy of the gaze but also a certain prestige given by the posture of the character holding her hands together, on the table. The solution of composing the page skilfully avoids the monotony that a predominantly frontal and symmetrical vision of the model could have given. The sumptuousness of the chromatic contrast established between China Green (the chair) and warm colors - red and ochres - of the striped silk dress, essentially contributes to the architecture of the whole. As the signature N.G. reveals, which the artist certainly used in 1874 (the time of his stay in Italy), but it seems also around this year, this work could have been painted in the same period from the early years of the 8th decade. It is the time when Grigorescu often visited the houses of the closely related families of V.A. Urechia and Dona, where intellectual and artistic interests were paramount, and human quality was appreciated. Thus a very close friendship was established that would last the lifetime of the protagonists. Grigorescu painted and drew portraits of the ladies from these families, the four Pester-Wirth sisters (Luiza, Ana/Zettina, Carlotta, Emilia), daughters of the Iași contractor Pester and his wife, Margareta von Wirth (See Mihai Sorin Rădulescu, 2007, p. 437). The four sisters enjoyed a fine musical education, making their mark in concerts in Bucharest and Constanța. Carlotta - named as an opera artist Carlotta Leria - became a well-known soprano and a singing professor at the Bucharest Conservatory. As we learn from the memories of Professor I. D. Ștefănescu, Emilia Dona, whom Grigorescu painted in other portraits than the one here (preserved in the collection of Dr. Iosif N. Dona), had a distinct artistic formation, as she "grew up in Paris in the house of Mrs. Viardot Garcia and met Flaubert, Renan, Turgenev, alongside the great musicians and singers who frequented the house of her famous protector" (I. D. Ștefănescu, 1957, p. 189; testimony cited by Doina Păuleanu, 2010, p. 60). Emilia was the wife of General Nicolae Dona (1837-1915), the mother of the doctor and collector Iosif N. Dona (1875-1956), and her daughter, Margareta was married to Alexandru Vlahuță. (I.B.)

References

Remus Niculescu, Nicolae Grigorescu Exhibition, catalog from, Art Museum of the Romanian People's Republic, Bucharest, 1957, cat. 80, p. 44. I.D. Stefanescu, "Painter N.Grigorescu. Lights and reflections", in Testimonies about N. Grigorescu, a critical anthology by I. Jianu and V. Beneș, ESPLA, Bucharest, 1957, p. 187-197. G.Oprescu [-R.Niculescu], N. Grigorescu, vol I, Ed. Meridians, Bucharest, 1961, p.199-200, il.p.198, cat. 139. Vasile Varga, Nicolae Grigorescu, Ed. Meridians, Bucharest,1973, il.15, p. 47. Doina Păuleanu, Singularity and imaginary construction. Romanian painters in Brittany (1876-1940), Constanța Art Museum, Ed. Arcade, Bucharest, 2010, p. 60. Mihai Sorin Rădulescu, "From the old Bucharest: The art collector Dr. Iosif N. Dona and his family", in Bucharest-Materials of history and museography, XXI, 2007, p. 435-471.

Dimensions

width 22.5 cm, height 35.5 cm

Description

ulei pe pânză, signed bottom left, in red, "N.G."

Research information

The artwork was featured in the "Nicolae Grigorescu" exhibition, Bucharest, 1957 and is mentioned in the exhibition catalog on page 44, cat. 80. The artwork is reproduced in the monograph "N. Grigorescu", George Oprescu, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1961 at cat. 139. The artwork is reproduced in the monograph "Nicolae Grigorescu", Vasile Varga, Meridiane Publishing House, 1973, French edition, page 39.

Dating

1870 -1875

PROVENANCE

Elena and Dr. Iosif Dona Collection.

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