| (b Colibasi, 22 Sept 1888; d Bucharest, 3 July 1972) Romanian painter. He initially worked as a laboratory assistant at a medical institution; there he was encouraged in his painting by the scientist and collector Ion Cantacuzino. He also received encouragement in 1909 from the painter Arthur Verona whose studio he frequented. In 1913 he received a grant to study in Paris at the Academie Ranson and the Academie Delecluse, but after returning to Romania in 1914 he was obliged to continue in his old profession, although his paintings had already been shown at the Official Salon and elsewhere in Bucharest. His early paintings were mainly landscapes (e.g. Landscape, 1922; Bucharest, N. Mus. A.) and townscapes, showing street corners with old houses; he avoided the picturesque, conveying instead an atmosphere of ruggedness and sobriety. After c. 1930 his paintings of peasants and of rural scenes (e.g. Group of Housewives, 1930; Sibiu, Brukenthal Mus.) have the same severe and austere line dominating them. The draughtsmanship is vigorous, the tones saturated and the impasto abundant. He also painted fairground scenes and still-lifes (e.g. Still-life with Apples, 1961; Bucharest, N. Mus. A.). |
