95. By the River

Camil Ressu

1880, Galaţi - 1962, Bucureşti

Selling price

EUR 19.296

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Session

Thu, 15 December 2022 19:00

The fundamental theme of the classical art of all time, the nude or the treatment of the human figure, represented one of Ressu's preferred artistic programmes (especially after 1920), and it was actually a recurring theme also in the works of many of his contemporary artists (Matisse, Picasso, Rodin and many others). After Greek sculpture and Michelangelo's art, thanks to Ressu, one can now talk about the nude in Romanian art as a direct means of expression, approached out of a deep motivation for inner order, representing also the genre adapting mostly to graphic means and line expressiveness, as well as a way to express the artist's ideal of feminine beauty. Related in vision to the robustness of human forms specific to Michelangelo and Renaissance in general, as well as to the voluptuous Rubensian carnality, Ressu applies to his nudes a beauty that is closer to nature, almost heroic. Consequently, Ressu's women lack in grace, as they were conceived in Roman mythology; their charm finds its full expression in each character's conscience, in their natural and primordial sensuality, hence contrasting an older vision of noble beauty. Located in the middle of nature, in a landscape of secular trees and the clear and still water of a river, the nude work "La pârâu" ("Bathing") gets closer, from the compositional point of view, to works such as "Zi de vară" ("Summer Day") (undated - ca. 1919, MNAR), "Valul" ("The Wave") (undated – ca. 1912, Brukenthal Museum, Sibiu), and "Peisaj. La scăldat" ("Landscape. Bathing.") (undated – ca. 1924-1926, Ioana and Alexandru Beldiman Collection). With the same inclination towards the classical, the current nude manifests the artist's concern with overcoming the static attitudes, by depicting a body that is slightly contorted on its axis, with the arm and leg suspended during an energetic movement, thus offering the possibility to emphasize the muscular tension, the fullness of the joints and the waving movement of thighs.

References

ENESCU, Theodor, "C. Ressu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest 1984 ENESCU, Theodor, "Camil Ressu", Publishing House of the R.P.R. Academy, Bucharest 1958 COSMA, Gheorghe, "Camil Ressu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest 1967 Retrospective exhibition Camil Ressu, painting and graphics, Catalogue by Doina Shobel, The R.S.R. Museum of Art, Bucharest 1981-1982 REDLOW, Theodor, "Catinca C. Ressu Donation", in "Arta", year XXXIII, no. 7/1986, pp. 20-21 TEODORU, Rada, "Camil Ressu", Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1962

Dimensions

width 49.5 cm, height 69.5 cm, custom 69,5 Ã 49,5 cm

Description

oil on cardboard, signed bottom left, with black, "C. Ressu"

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