48. Sword Lilies [mid 30s]

The model can be anything that 'falls across the visual field and impresses it pictorially [...] Thus, a potato or a vulgar dishcloth; a shard of pot or a tree trunk; a fresh silver pike; a quince; a slice of cheese; a dead man's skull or a black cat with emerald eyes - are all 'models', as interesting to an artist as the bronzed torso of an athlete or the angelic mask of a blond maiden [...]' (N. N. Tonitza, Notes on art, collected by painter P.Hârtopeanu, Casa Școalelor, 1947). Starting from the didactic words that Tonitza failed to publish during his lifetime, we can interpret relevantly each artistic genre approached by the man who identified the pictorial meaning where the artist put his soul and skill. The painter's biography, which even if it does not exhaustively cover all the stages of his creation, provides us with the necessary information to understand and give an opinion on the main pictorial sources. We can analyse this work just like that, an oil representative of the period 1935-1937, when Tonitza continued to experiment with Japanese appearances, this time on small floral panels. The significance of these precious oils, created in particular during the 'gathering of painters' at Durău, is also governed by their excellent chromatic quality. In works from the same period as those created in Balchik, which responded to plastic interrogations related to the resonance of objects with the zenith atmosphere, Tonitza innovated in modelling works that responded only to the chromatic information provided by the nearby visual source. The floral panels resulted, even if they remind of the set and decorative backgrounds of the third decade of the 20th century, become a cycle in their own right as the visual finds expression. In the Gladioluses presented here, Tonitza uses that sparing chromatic complex, with the help of which he more easily highlights the floral motif. As mentioned above, the background is reminiscent of the painted unitary surfaces in compositions with nudes or portraits, but here the decorative necessity is superfluous, so the chromatic volumes are subordinated to the ink, which singularly orders the appearance and finally the atmosphere.

References

COMARNESCU, Petre, 'N.N. Tonitza', Tineretului Publishing House, Bucharest, 1962 ȘORBAN, Raul, 'Nicolae Tonitza', Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1965 TONITZA, N.N., 'Note despre artă' ('Notes on art'), Casa Școalelor, Bucharest, 1947

Dimensions

width 18.5 cm, height 48 cm, custom 48 × 18,5 cm

Description

oil on cardboard, signed upper centred, in brown, 'Tonitza'

Dating

mid 30s

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