88. Rapeseed Field

In his youth, Ion Țuculescu hesitated for a long while between science and art. He chooses to study medicine at the University of Bucharest and painting as self-taught student. He graduates "Magna cum laude" from the Faculty of Medicine and makes his debut as a natural science teacher. However, his professional pathway would allow him to keep painting. In 1938, at the Romanian Athenaeum, his first personal exhibition is organised, which would mark Țuculescu's rise to fame as an artist. The reactions of the public and the critic are mostly positive. He is given appreciation by painter Marius Bunescu and he decides not to give up on art. From the Romanian painting scene, Ion Țuculescu is especially inspired by Petrașcu, Andreescu or Luchian. From the universal art scene, he would take over some characteristics reminding of Van Gogh or Gauguin. He would also acquire various elements from Romanian folklore. Organisation and compositional balance have never represented a key skill for the artist, who was undeniably interested in the expressionist movement. In the series of works dedicated to the rapeseed fields, Țuculescu uses contrasting chromatic discharges. Next to the raw yellow of the vegetation, he adds the dark violet of the skies, which seems to be announcing a storm. The artist's non-conformity is unmasked by the decorative correspondences, in which one can find shades of black, a colour which will receive the role of a first soloist in his work. The artist becomes an interpreter of nature, who oscillates between the objectively-inspired creation and the works in which he transposes himself, instinctively and deeply subjectively. His plastic space, endless and with unusual materialisations, is streaked by an artificial luminosity and by a brutal chromatic becoming a central motif. In the history of Romanian art, Țuculescu remains the amateur turned professional, with an immeasurable power of revitalising the obsolete style of popular art.

References

COMARNESCU, Petre, "Țuculescu"; Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1974. CÂRNECI, Magda, "Ion Țuculescu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1984.

Dimensions

width 54 cm, height 45 cm

Description

oil on canvas pasted on cardboard, signed bottom right, in black, "I. Țuculescu"

Research information

The artwork is reproduced under the title "Câmp cu rapiță" ("Rapeseed Field") in the monograph "Ion Țuculescu", Petru Comărnescu, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1967, p. 11. The artwork is reproduced under the title "Câmp cu rapiță" ("Rapeseed Field") in the monograph "Ion Țuculescu", A. E. Baconsky, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1972, cat. 1, p. 20. The artwork is reproduced under the title "Câmp cu rapiță" ("Rapeseed Field") in the monograph "Ion Țuculescu", Magda Cârneci, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1984, cat. 13.

PROVENANCE

colecția dr. D. Gerota.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For clarifications regarding the bidding procedure, hammer price costs, guarantee, payment, and collection terms for the winning lot, we recommend carefully reading/re-reading the Bidding Regulations.

For additional information regarding the lot and the auction, please contact the Art Consultants Department.