Experimenter Ion Theodorescu-Sion

Țărani din abrud ( peasants of abrud , ca. 1913)

theodorescu-sion protean romanian oil painter. sion s interests in trying out formulas taken reserve in public. writing transylvanian readership of luceafărul, in may 1909, george murnu contended: teodorescu sion new talent ought work hard before reaching profundity of observation makes 1 artist. altogether preoccupied technical matters , superficial in drawing. 5 years later, tăslăuanu assess: mr. theodorescu-sion s art [...] doesn t agree people on first impression. [...] primitive , decorative genre, simple lines , expressive planes, has not won [it] many adherents. way of seeing , rendering things seen relates him modern art of other countries. however, [his canvasses] women not seek please eye , resemble others. once close them, once know them , study them, fall under spell of profound simplicity , beauty.

as noted in 1913 luceafărul art columnist g. duma, sion took painting science french academies , grand masters , techniques synthetism in religious work, , modern decorative elements in landscapes. duma describes sion s 1913 paintings, crai nou ( new moon ) , crucifixion, spiritual journey, , concludes: in vibrant colors, well-ordered planes, directing art of future, conscious painter theodorescu-sion dreams of , puts song aria leads immortality. art historians have since disagreed young sion s focus on existential mystery. mariana vida calls compositions pathetically symbolist , but, according amelia pavel, visions of solitary trees fuse art nouveau, twisted lineaments , elements taken out of expressionism. writes: leafless tree [is] symbol of human alienation, of human powerlessness when faced immensity of nature . pavel explicitly contradicted fellow romanian scholar dan grigorescu: tree motif closer [sion s] decorative-muralist vision of hallmark monumentality, ethnicist implications .

beyond symbolist context, theodorescu-sion s primitivism form of social investigation. g. duma among ones describe sion voice of specific romanian sensibility: theodorescu-sion s art echo of people s feelings [...]. atavism of our purest art [...]. artist creates, , people represents lives on through him, making known other nations definitive characteristics [...] sources of own dreams coming light under creative power. [...] 1 feels spiritually connected theodorescu-sion, because 1 finds, buried pastures, labor , suffering of race has produced painter himself. according anca gogîltan, tinerimea art show of 1910 watershed moment in relationship between urban modern art , rural majority of romania, both theodorescu-sion , camil ressu tackled rural life without idyllic conventionalism or moral indignation. refers in particular sion s transylvanian-themed arat în munții abrudului ( ploughing in mountains of abrud ), underlining man s civilizing action rather expressing social critique . prior world war i, gogîltan argues, sion , ressu visual partners of romanian agrarianism (or poporanism), seeking emphasize, mihail sadoveanu in literary field, dignity , resilience , economic importance of romanian peasantry.

with trips in southern dobruja, palette became more luminous, discussed tăslăuanu: in new dobruja effusion of light , warmth, colors lighter; countours more imprecise, less defined; coloring mixture , contrast more pronounced , richer. in light-steeped atmosphere of balcic , deliorman, artist found subjects agree understanding of poetic color. 1919, showing interest in landscape of suburbia. cultural historian sorin alexandrescu argues resulting paintings, focus on women , children, have atmosphere of calm , balance . these scenes of family life contrast other preoccupations of late 1910s. oscar walter cisek notes, sion s colors still luminous, canvasses seemed have concentrated [...] darkness of great war , and, while, huddled boulders of sheer matter . according cisek, preference hurt sion s art next few years, began wear out completion of la isvorul troiței.

in context of romanian artistic modernity, parallel evolution of sion , iosif iser has intrigued various commentators. reviewer gheorghe oprescu argues resemblance between 2 modulated sion s temperamental changes, restless, perhaps less sure of itself, being . interwar critic, aurel d. broșteanu, writes sion (like iser, more rustic influences) contributed assimilation of pictorial objectivity , , set out against amorphous , disorganized impressionism.