39. Portrait of a Jew [cca. 1880]

Nicolae Grigorescu achieves through his portraits to capture reality through the filter of sensitivity, even though he is a portraitist of nature and the human who completes it. Aspects of Romanian reality were painted by Grigorescu throughout his nearly 60 years of artistic activity, managing to express through form and color, the image of an autochthonous harmony, specific to Romanian. The observation of the generosity of the approached themes, suggest a clear, sincere desire of the artist to find the most direct way to people and their soul. With refinement and inclination towards the living contemplation of the psychology of the human portrait, Nicolae Grigorescu paints him in his moments of communion with nature, in the bitter struggle for national independence, which, along with landscapes of extreme pictorial and authenticity, constitute the most eloquent confirmation of the value of Romanian traditions, earning a significant place in universal painting. Besides the intimately nature inclined towards the knowledge of the man, another constant of the artist's personality was the concern for travel. The desire to recreate the human and natural universe leads Grigorescu on journeys both at home and abroad, frantically seeking the "motive". Thus, Grigorescu's painting surrounds us with places and human typologies - a street in Vitré, a glade in Posada, a car with oxen, a shepherd with his herd grazing, a countrywoman portrait from Muscel, a pifferaio on the Pincio hill, in Rome, a rider on the battlefield, an almost psychological study of a Jew - giving us satisfaction that we have known a world and its interpreter. The journey through Grigorescu's work is a journey under the warm light of noon and through the richness of the human soul. In the periplum of Grigorescu's work, just as important as his landscapes, which he often discovered, occupy the portraiture dedicated to the Jews known on the roads of life. Expressive faces of Jews sprinkled with street dust or sunk in dirt, represented as many reasons as it seems to have intensely concerned Grigorescu. The painter is mainly concerned with portraying, through a subtle analysis, the psychological features, creating, in a realistic style, the atmosphere of the spiritual universe of the one portrayed. Interesting from a pictorial and psychological point of view, done in a delicate chiaroscuro, the portraits of Jews hold a significant place in Grigorescu's work, being one of the prestigious chapters. Temporarily returning to the country, from studies, in the summer of 1864, presents him the knowledge of Galicia, whose evidence stand numerous studies of Germans, soldiers and Jews. The ethnic features of Jews, so typical, with their psychology imprinted on the face and in attitude, with their specific costume, represent for the artist aspects not only picturesque, but also suitable for a deeper human analysis, similar to Rembrandt, whose works he observed and had studied with great interest, during his visits to the Louvre Museum in Paris. Ten years later (1874), the Jewish community in Bacau offers him a return to the study of their characteristic types, which he analyzes in remarkable portraits and landscapes. All achievements during this period are true meticulous studies, in which Grigorescu insists on detailing the form. The realism of the works delights in representing defining tics and gestures of the characters. This is how "The Jew with the Caftan", "The Fair in Bacau" and other studies of Jews from 1874 were born, revisiting this subject for the last time in 1880 when he will create one of the most representative works of this genre, "The Jew with the Goose". All these years of frequent travels between Romania and France, are years of important achievements for Grigorescu, of direct contact with the motifs that fit his personality, and the passion with which he worked and the genius of his art, transformed them into exceptional models for humanity.

Literatura

"Exhibition of Ancient and Modern Romanian Art", catalogue with studies by Henri Focillion, Gheorghe Balş, Ion Cantacuzino, Paris, May 1925 "Grigorescu Painter of Nature"(1838-1907), texts by Mariana Vida, coord. Rodica Matei, National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest October 25 – March 30, 2008, 2007 "Nicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907) Itinerary of a Romanian Painter – From the Barbizon School to Impressionism", Agen, Museum of Fine Arts, Somogy Art Publishers, Paris 2006 "Nicolae Grigorescu. Painting and Graphics”, catalogue by Ioana Beldiman and Gheorghe Cosma, National Museum of Art of RSR, Bucharest, 1984 NICULESCU, Remus, "Grigorescu between classicism and romanticism", Studies and Research of Art History, No. 3-4, Bucharest, 1956 OPRESCU, George, NICULESCU, Remus, "N. Grigorescu. Apprentice Years", State Publishing House for Literature and Art, Bucharest, 1956 OPRESCU, George, "Grigorescu and France, study on the painter's spiritual and artistic formation", Bucharest, 1946 REAU, Louis,” Romanian Art, Larousse", Paris, 1946 ŞIRATO, Francisc, "Modern Romanian Art: Grigoresco", Apollo Collection directed by Al. Busuioceanu, Editions de la Connaissance, Brussels VLAHUŢĂ, Alexandru," Painter Nicolae Grigorescu", Ed. Tineretului, 1968 VOINESCU, Teodora, "The Formation Period of Nicolae Grigorescu", Official Monitor, Bucharest, 1938 ZAMBACCIAN, K. H., "Pages of Art", The House of Schools, Bucharest, 1943.

Dimenzije

width 13 cm, height 18 cm

Opis

oil on wood, signed lower right, in red, "Grigorescu"

Izlasci

cca. 1880

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