35. Peasants at the Inn [second half of the 20s]

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35. Peasants at the Inn [second half of the 20s]

Rudolf Schweitzer-Cumpăna

1886, Piteşti - 1975, Bucureşti

Estimate:

EUR 5.000 - 8.000

Sold

EUR 7.250

References

BARBOSA, Octavian, 'Dicționarul Artiștilor Români Contemporani' ('Dictionary of Romanian Contemporary Artists'), Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1976. IONESCU, Radu, 'Rudolf Schweitzwer-Cumpăna', Fundația Rudolf Schweitzer-Cumpăna, Bucharest, 2003.

oil on cardboard, 71 x 98 cm, signed bottom left, in brown, 'Schweitzer-Cumpăna'

Approaching themes and topics with a profound humanist nature, Rudolf Schweitzer-Cumpăna is inscribed in the history of Romanian visual arts as a true painter of the village and the local peasant. The childhood spent in the middle of nature, in the rustic atmosphere of Cumpăna, will transpose in an assiduous study of the life of the villagers of Argeș. The artist will transpose faces, ports, gestures and traditions in a series of frescoes dedicated to rural life. Among his main themes there are motherhood, work and care of the household or housework, transcribed in landscapes, portraits or genre scenes. The organic need to express in front of the easel will manifest almost incessantly - the artist works sometimes four to five works a day. The hustle and bustle and at the same time the quiet of rustic life is painted through his specific plastic language, by means of expression which undeniably enrich the artist's themes. Rudolf Schweitzer-Cumpăna uses powerful contrasts and relies on the incandescence of colour. He transposes his states of mind in intense light and shape games and reveals the revealing effect of colour laid directly on the canvas. He uses generous, rich paste, which he puts in harmonious touch-lines in fast, well-defined rhythms. He does not idolise the image of the peasant, but presents the simple, ordinary man, with his soul's anxieties and daily concerns. The drama of the artist's chromatic expressiveness is highlighted by his realistic vision. The solemnity of the gestures and the earthy nuances follow one another in works such as 'Peasants at the Table', 'Peasant Lunch' or even in the present work. The artist possesses a particular sensitivity and a remarkable power of understanding human psychology, so this time he gathers three characters around a table. We get a direct view of the faces of the two men, but we can only analyse the woman through the gestures of her back. The folk costumes, the handkerchief and hats; the worried faces and the desperate grimaces or the glass placed in the middle of the table reveal details of the personal universe of Schweitzer-Cumpăna's protagonists. The earthy tones used to create the background create a direct contrast with the bright white outfits of the characters. In keeping with the tradition of his favourite thematic cycle, the artist invites us, this time too, to delve into the mysteries of the village world.

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