18. Prometheus [the 30s]

The first personal exhibition of Boris Caragea, organised one year after graduating from the National School of Fine Arts - he enjoyed real success. Held in Dimitrie Paciurea's workshop, where the young artist was working as a result of the 'Paciurea' scholarship, this first exhibition was very well received by the public. All his works were sold (some of them also appeared at the Official Salon of the same year), and the critics of the time rewarded Boris Caragea with glowing reviews. The lessons offered by Hrandt Avachian, Frederic Storck, Oscar Han and Dimitrie Paciurea proved to be totally prolific. Boris Caragea stands out with sculptures in a romantic-realist manner, close to the perceptions proposed by Bourdelle. The artist proves an imposing material force, but also the ability to focus his spiritual energy in a series of statues, monuments or portraits which ticked off a telluric massiveness. Another notable moment in the economy of Caragea's creation is represented by the meeting with sculptor Ivan Meštrović. The contact with the work of this Croatian artist was an intense visual experience, transposed in the tendency towards monumentality of the Romanian artist's sculptures. His research into the semantics of bodies is revealed either through series dedicated to the female nude or through works revealing male silhouettes. Complete master of the technique, Boris Caragea excels in the full and powerful shaping of expressive matter curved into calm contours. Drawn particularly to the gesture of the arms, it bestows a unique sculptural language and thereby soothes the tumult of the body The subject of the present work was first broached in 1933, in a work made of bronze, which was in the collection of the art historian and critic George Oprescu. This version of the work was presented to the public in the Official Salon exhibitions. Idealising certain opinions and ideas, Boris Caragea refers to cultural or mythical backgrounds through which he reiterates his creative force.

References

PAVEL, Amelia, 'Boris Caragea', Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1970. BARBOSA, Octavian, 'Dicționarul Artiștilor Români Contemporani' ('Dictionary of Romanian Contemporary Artists'), Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1976.

Dimensions

depth 16 cm, width 32 cm, height 33 cm, custom 33 × 32 × 16 cm

Description

plaster, signed on the base, 'B. Caragea'

Research information

A version of the work (made of bronze) is reproduced in the 'Boris Caragea' monograph, entitled 'The Slave', Amelia Pavel, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1970, cat. 1.

Dating

the 30s

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