102. The Little Tatar Girl (Rachiș Ali) [1936]

The moment of discovering Balchik will coincide, in the work of Nicolae Tonitza, with the moment of abandoning the teachings of the academic school, which considerably restricted his creative perspective ​ In the summer of 1933, the Romanian artist was travelling around the Black Sea, which would considerably broaden his pictorial horizons. The summers spent in Balchik filled Tonitza's canvases with coffee shops, traditional houses, flower shops, windows, verandas, suburbs, or the charming bay of the Dobrogea region, or the portraits of Turks, odalisques, or little Tatar girls. The mirage of the oriental world will give a new rhythm to the creations made in Balchik, and the sinuous arabesques of the lines appear more and more often in the specific work of this period. The artist captures the atmosphere and the local colour by a considerable reduction of the palette to just a few shades spread over much larger areas. He delineates shapes by colour from the palette with the same skill he demonstrates in drawing. Thus, the artist passed the seascape through his own filter and transposed it onto canvas with the skill of the drawer and the careful use of the painter's brush. However, as mentioned earlier, Nicolae Tonitza will also dedicate a long series of works to the characters of the Dobrogea region. Portraits of odalisques and little Tatar girls will constantly appear as sketches or oil paintings. He captures the particular features of the local people of these lands, among which we remember the almond-shaped eyes and their mannerist elongation to emphasize the eastern characteristics; but he will also use the clothing and the characteristic handkerchiefs of the area. The specificity of this thematic cycle consists in mentioning the date when the work was made and noting the names of its characters: Osman Ismail, Rachis Ali, Abibe, Gurlu, Afize or Lutfie are just some of the faces captured in different poses and various chromatic choices. This work, from the 1930s, coincides with the period in which Nicolae Tonitza dedicated a series of works to the protagonist from Balchik. The features of the face and the clothing the artist opts for introduce us to the oriental universe and give us precious clues about the life of the little model. Just as the 'In the Couchette' work is the milestone when referring to the category of nudes created by Nicolae Tonitza; just as the 'The Street Performers' triptych becomes the apotheosis of the circus world; or just as 'Eternal Silence' dominates detachedly in his seascapes; frugally sketched, the artist's muse in the present work becomes representative of an entire social category and remains an important record of his artistic mastery.

References

Florica Cruceru, Doina Păuleanu, Simona Urziceanu, 'Opera lui Nicolae Tonitza în patrimoniul Muzeelor de Artă din Constanța și Topalu' ('Nicolae Tonitza's works in the patrimony of the Art Museums of Constanța and Topalu'), Bucharest, 1979.

Dimensions

width 43.5 cm, height 53.5 cm, custom 53,5 × 43,5 cm

Description

varnished gouache on cardboard, signed, dated and localised, upper left, in brown, 'Tonitza, Balcic, 1936'

Dating

1936

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