10. Yard in Mangalia (Delureanu's Candy Shop)

The former ancient citadel was an important source of inspiration for many artists in the interwar period due to the captivating subjects and landscapes with which it enthralled the audience. Typical of the Black Sea coast, the boats seen off shore, lighthouses, inns, cafes, bakeries, houses, courtyards, streets, fountains, Islamic settlements, cemeteries, and the Orthodox basilicas are all images of the Dobruja landscape that has impressed its creators. The most common motifs were peripheral scenes, marine landscapes, the Orientation Lighthouse for the Ships at the Breakwater, the Esmahan Sultan Mosque, the Greek Church, courtyard interiors, or mere street corners. Among the artists who have come here and who have mirrored the Dobruja landscape are: Dumitru Ghiaţă, Alexandru Satmary, Jean Alexandru Steriadi, Ion Ţuculescu, Gheorghe Petrașcu, Francisc Şirato, Ştefan Dimitrescu or Nicolae Tonitza – the last three being part of the trio of painters from the Group of Four, artists who have reflected in their works many landscapes of Mangalia. Tonitza discovered Mangalia in the summer of 1925 and continued to return there until 1930, a period during which he painted scenes from nature, the theme of nature meaning for the artist a retreat to another side of reality; he confessed that "The ultimate voluptuousness does not lie in the diversity and depth of emotional games that nature stirs in me, but rather in the aspects that my soul desires and imposes on nature." Over the years, Tonitza’s creative tendencies have slowly turned to a more serene set of themes, such as landscapes caught in plein-air, where the colours begin to acquire their own place, in a tumult of ochre, yellow, burnt Sienna, golden vibrations or cobalt. The motifs of his creations remain quite modest, as he mostly chose slum corners, rustic interiors, houses, inns, bakeries or courtyards. A friendly man, he was accommodated in the house of old Tefik, his host in the summer of 1930, whose oil portrait he painted; moreover, he depicted his home in many of his watercolour paintings. From his house he shared with his friend Constantin Vlădescu his impressions of Mangalia and invited him to paint together. The Dobruja region inspired him to create peripheral landscapes, recreating their ambience and even capturing the essence of the inner representations of the courtyards that seemed to fascinate him. In one of these landscapes, entitled Slum Courtyard, he brings to the forefront the dominating ochre of the Dobruja soil, the copper of rooms covered in wood and the pale azure of a cloudless sky. In his painting, shape and space are integrated in the colour, and lines acquire harmonious valences of light. The perspective is also captured from different angles where compositional elements can be seen from the front, as through the eyes of the artist. He presented many of these landscapes inspired by Mangalia on various occasions, both at the Manifestation of the renowned Group of the Four in 1929, and in individual studio exhibitions, such as the one in 1930. (G.M.)

Literatura

BREZIANU, Barbu, ""N. N. Tonitza"", Ed. Meridiane, Bucureşti, 1986
COMARNESCU, Petru, ""N. N. Tonitza"", Ed. Tineretului, Bucureşti, 1962
""Nicolae Tonitza"", catalog de expoziţie, text de Georgeta Peleanu, Bucureşti, 1964
PĂULEANU, Doina, "Pictori români la Balcic", Monitorul Ofcial, Bucureşti, 2008
ŞORBAN, Raul, ""Tonitza"", Ed. Meridiane, Bucureşti, 1973

Dimenzije

width 49.5 cm, height 61.5 cm

Opis

oil on cardboard, signed lower right, in brown, "Tonitza"

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