113. Work (Sketch for the decoration of the C.E.C. Palace) [cca. 1900]

Menelas Simonidy (taking the name Michel once he arrived in Paris) comes from an old family of Greek merchants. He arrived at Theodor Aman's workshop in 1888, and in 1891 he won the scholarship that would facilitate his move to Paris. He entered the French artistic milieu through the Julian Academy and the École des Beaux-Arts and made his debut at the Salon of the Society of French Artists. In Paris, the Romanian artist lived in a building located in the 18th arrondissement, where other artists of the time also lived, including Jules Pascin and Toulouse-Lautrec. Simonidy's artistic journey starts with academicism filled with historical or mythological motifs and gradually adopts naturalism in which he inserts symbolist accents. The resounding success of the monumental work "Winter Perfumes" (engraved by Charles Baude for Le Monde Illustré) in Paris will also resonate in the country, where the artist will be proposed for painting a series of works for the ceiling of the Council Hall of the House of Savings and Conversions in Bucharest. In the end, 3 paintings for the central ceiling would be approved by the Administration Council, so Simonidy proposed to paint "Fame" and "Star of Romania" for the secondary compositions, and for the central composition he proposed "Fortuna distributing her goods to the Romanians after gaining Independence". The artist also made monumental portraits of Queen Elisabeta and King Carol I for the CEC Palace, which unfortunately have not been preserved to this day. In 1905 Michel Simonidy suggested the creation, for the vaults of the central hall of the same institution, of two works of large dimensions - "Peace consoling Humanity" and "War looking at its work", both considered inappropriate for the context in which they were to be exhibited (the banking establishment). Considering the negative response of the council, the artist proposed two other compositions "Work" and "Abundance", approved this time by the Administration Council. Simonidy stated: "In "Work", I will try to depict Work through a group of men forging iron on an anvil and villagers working the land, and the Spirit through a thinker, all in a wild landscape. Ships and fishermen complete the fresco." His dispatch thus sums up the subject of the present work, in which the group of men gives vibration and color to the composition. Constantly in motion, they are forging iron on an anvil, carrying the necessary materials, or fishing. We note the "Spirit" personified by the thinker depicted in the foreground, in the lower right, like Greek philosophers: with a white, voluminous beard and long robe, holding a parchment; while his left hand is propped on his crown in a symbolic gesture. The wild landscape reveals a natural setting, furrowed by hills and waters, surrounded by the clear sky, white clouds, and trees. If small-scale compositions predominantly feature female figures, in this work we find mostly men, children, and old men, figures rarely found in other creations of the artist. The sketch preceding the work exhibited in the CEC Palace strictly follows the contour of the vault of the central hall, hence we notice the impressive frame that enhances the value of the painting, through chromatic juxtapositions and fine details. Critics have noted that Simonidy finds his inspiration in the work of artists such as Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (one of the most important French mural artists of the time), or in the mural paintings of the grandiose Parisian buildings and institutions he visited at the beginning of the 20th century. The work "Work" was exhibited at the Salon of the National Society of Fine Arts in 1909, but only arrived in Romania in 1912; the second work, however, will never arrive in Romania, due to, perhaps, the political context of the time.

References

BADEA-PĂUN, Gabriel, "Patrons and Commissioners, Art and Political Message", Noi Media Print, Bucharest, 2010.

Dimensions

width 168 cm, height 95.5 cm

Description

ulei pe pânză, signed on the right side in black, in monogram, "MS"; noted lower right, in black, "DIMENSION = 10.40 METERS = Length"

Research information

The first decoration project for the C.E.C Palace was obtained by Simonidy in 1899, for decorating the Council Hall. The first piece, "Fortuna distributing her goods to the Romanians after gaining independence" would be awarded at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900, achieving the Silver Medal. In 1909 the artist exhibited at the Salon of the National Society of Fine Arts in Paris (SNBA) the project of the work “Work”, which would arrive in Bucharest three years later.

Dating

cca. 1900

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