The photos of the lot are informative and indicative, and cannot provide a highly detailed view of the object from all angles. We recommend a careful physical inspection of the lot before bidding.
DEAC, Mircea, "The Nude in Romanian Painting", Official Monitor, 2010
MÂNDRESCU, Anatol, "Theodor Pallady", Meridiane Publishing, Bucharest, 1971
CEBUC, Alexandru, "Theodor Pallady", Official Monitor, Bucharest, 2008
oil and tempera on paper glued to cardboard, 47.5 x 40.5 cm, signed upper right, in monogram, "TP"
PROVENANCE
Garabet Avachian's collection.
Theodor Pallady, a key figure of Romanian modernism, constructs his own ideal according to the laws of beauty, founded on a vast culture, deepened while spending time in the West. He forms his artistic approach in the ambiance of Gustav Moreau's studio, where he assumes the rigor of drawing and compositional sobriety, converting them into a personal language, dominated by a deliberate austerity and a poetics of the object.
Almost his entire artistic creation is focused on exploring interiors and their specific aspects. The figurative isolation of the artistic vision allows Pallady to outline an almost architectural space of an idealized pictorial space, where he places numerous female figures, resting on armchairs or couches, reading or playing an instrument. Thus, Pallady focuses his artistic identity on a restricted visual discipline, oriented towards idealizing forms and creating an atmosphere of suspended contemplativeness.
Pallady's entire mature work, between the years 1910 and 1940, particularly in the case of genre scenes, reveals a search for deep pictorial relationships, of structure, modeled in a scenography that maintains the appearances of the natural. The femininity these evoke is passed through the demanding filter of his vision of life, combining refinement and naturalness. Captured in a private space, the woman appears nostalgic, often with fallen eyelids, breathing the silence of the room. Most of the time, Pallady pursues the needs of the composition more than the photographic traits of his models, pure realistic resemblance not being one of his interests.
Pallady's interior backgrounds have an aristocratic atmosphere contributed by details such as a book, a flower, a painting on the wall, a quilted chair in old velvet - objects taken from still life. Recurrent elements function as time markers, memory and the inner rhythm of everyday existence. This way, the artist composes true royalties that include ordinary objects to obtain line, shape and color agreements, but also relationships between meanings. Here we can mention compositions such as “Woman reading,” “Interior with model,” or “Interior with red armchair.”
The composition we're referring to presents a woman seated in a red armchair, reading, captured in a stance of calm concentration. The image illustrates more of a soulful state, without seeming to seek the sensuality of form, important being the proper rendering of the model's feeling. The relevant prop of Pallady's still life in the right corner immerses the viewer in his universe, full of meanings. Thus, Pallady impresses the idea of an intimate environment of the feminine character that manifests freely, unaware that she is observed. This work differentiates from others through its compositional silence, calculated austerity and by its capacity to transform the everyday into a contemplation territory. (L.M.)
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