Nicolae Tonitza
Encyclopedia
Nicolae Tonitza was a Romania
n painter, engraver
, lithographer
, journalist and art critic. Drawing inspiration from Post-impressionism
and Expressionism
, he had a major role in introducing modernist
guidelines to local art
.
, he left his home town in 1902 in order to attend the Iaşi National School of Fine Arts
, where he had among his teachers Gheorghe Popovici and Emanoil Bardasare. The following year he visited Italy
together with University of Bucharest
students of archeology under the direction of Grigore Tocilescu
. During that period, together with some of his fellow students, Tonitza painted the walls of Grozeşti
church.
In 1908 he left for Munich
, where he attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts
; he began publishing political cartoons
in Furnica, and contributing art criticism
articles to Arta Română. Tonitza spent the following three years in Paris
, where he visited artists' studios, and studied famous paintings. Although the young artist's creation would initially conform to the prevalent style, his gift for colour and his personal touch would eventually lead him towards experiment. Throughout his life, he remained committed to the Munich School, hailing its innovative style over the supposedly "obscure imitators of Matisse
".
After his return, Tonitza painted fresco
s in several churches of Moldavia
and worked as an art teacher, and then, together with Cezar Petrescu
, as editor of Iaşul newspaper. He married Ecaterina Climescu in 1913. The art collector Krikor Zambaccian, whom Tonitza befriended after 1925, indicated that, during its existence, Iaşul sided with the Conservative Party
, opposing Romania's entry into World War I
.
In 1916, after Romania entered the conflict, Tonitza was drafted into the Army and fell prisoner
to the Bulgaria
ns during the Battle of Turtucaia
. Interned, he became ill with malaria
and rheumatism
, which would plague him until his death. He was set free and returned in 1918.
During the 1920s, he was a member of the Arta Română group (alongside Gheorghe Petraşcu
and others). His commitment to social commentary is best perceivable in his graphic work, malitious and sometimes dramatical — he sketched for many contemporary, usually political and leftist
, magazines: Socialismul (official voice of the short-lived Socialist Party of Romania
), Adevărul
, Flacăra
, Hiena, Rampa, and Scarlat Callimachi
's Clopotul —, and in his articles (including the ones in Viaţa Românească
and Curentul), which mainly discussed cultural and social events. He became close to the writer and activist Gala Galaction
, whose book O lume nouă he illustrated in 1919, and whose portrait ("The Man of a New World") he painted one year later. His first catalog, issued in 1920, was prefaced by the poet and art critic Tudor Arghezi
.
In 1921, Tonitza expanded his range, painting prototype
s for a ceramics
factory, and organizing a ceramics exhibition; the same year, he moved to Vălenii de Munte
, and decided to cease contributing to the press. It was at the time that he developed on his characteristic style and themes, both of which, Zambaccian contended, were determined by his experiences as a father.
Later, he became the editor of the art magazine Artele Frumoase, and, in 1922, traveled to Transylvania
, where he befriended Aurel Popp. The same year, he took Camil Ressu
's defense during a scandal involving the latter's design for a National Theater curtain, attacking the artistic guidelines advocated by the cultural establishment ("[Romania is] the country where scientist historians compose erotic pieces and embarrassing rhymes, [...] where intellectual
women draw the gusty gestures of decrepit election agent
s, [...] where physicians push their rusty hypodermics
into the unmentionable muscle tissues of artists as a means to draw up aesthetical logarithm
s"). In 1926, Tonitza, Oscar Han
, Francisc Şirato
, and Ştefan Dimitrescu
, organized themselves as Grupul celor patru ("The Group of Four"). He met success in 1925, after opening a large exhibit of his Vălenii de Munte paintings in Bucharest
, while raising controversy (including criticism from Ressu) over his "poster
-like" style.
Despite his fame, he continued to live an impoverished and hectic existence, which probably contributed to the decline of his health. By 1931, he was dividing his time between Bucharest and Constanţa
, having agreed to paint the walls of Saint George's Church in the latter city. Tonitza was angered by the reception of his work in Constanţa, declaring himself insulted after he was made to showcase his designs in competition to lesser-known artists. Eventually, he received the commission, and spent the next two years at work on the murals, while distancing himself from Grupul celor patru.
Upon Dimitrescu's death in 1933, Tonitza held his chair at the Fine Arts Academy in Iaşi. A participant in several national exhibitions and World Fairs
, he painted his last works around Balchik
.
According to Zambaccian, Tonitza's early association with socialism
was partly due to the interest taken in him by the leftist press, who was willing to reward his contributions at a time when "one could not live solely by painting". The same source stated that the artist later refrained from expressing political opinions, and, on one occasion during the 1930s, jokingly referred to himself as "a supporter of Petre P. Carp
" (the Conservative leader had died in 1919). Nevertheless, he signed, alongside several other prominent cultural figures, an appeal to tighten cultural connections between Romania and the Soviet Union
, leading to the creation of Societatea pentru întreţinerea raporturilor culturale dintre România şi Uniunea Sovietică (the Society for Maintaining Cultural Links between Romania and the Soviet Union) in May 1935 (see Amicii URSS
).
He fell severely ill in 1937, and died three years later. He is buried at the Ghencea cemetery
, in Bucharest.
Owing much to the art of his predecessor Ştefan Luchian
, Tonitza was largely inspired by Impressionism
, but he equally admired the discoveries made by Post-impressionist
artists (their revolution in composition
and Belle Époque
splendor). Tonitza was notably critical of Nicolae Grigorescu
, the major trend-setter in Romanian art, whose success over "peasant motifs", he stated, had "lured him to remain, for the rest of his life, in this rosy and light-hearted atmosphere". He equally objected to Grigorescu's influence over younger generations, which had led to "mannerism
" and "nationalism
" in choice of subjects, and the emergent urbane art ("where man shall represent only a decorative and amusing accessory").
Evidencing his "tormented life" and "fantasy-driven and bohemian
lifestyle", Zambaccian wondered if these had not been the source of Tonitza's "ingenious art, full of chromatic joys that are nonetheless transited by melancholia
". He drew a direct comparison between the artist's innovative presence in painting and George Bacovia
's Symbolist
poetry.
During his stay abroad, Nicolae Tonitza was influenced by the works of Rembrandt and Antonio da Correggio
. An admirer of both Frans Masereel
and Käthe Kollwitz
, he also adapted Expressionist
guidelines — ones especially present in his satirical drawings, but also manifested large works such as Coadă la pâine ("Queuing for Bread", 1920). According to Zambaccian, Tonitza stopped short of adopting clear Expressionist tenets ("Modigliani
and Pascin
favored contorting [shapes], while Tonitza does not stray away from nature and places an emphasis on feeling"); the two continued to oppose each other on the issue of Henri Matisse
's style (admired by Zambaccian, by hotly contested by Tonitza). A more distant but no less direct influence was the graphic art of Honoré Daumier
, which Tonitza had studied.
The early art produced by these influences was described in Sburătorul
by Şirato, Tonitza's friend, as "paintings which are [in fact] drawings with a light resonance of intellectualism"; during the period, Rampa magazine hailed the painter as "A priest of humanitarian
ideas, of ideas demanding the attention of present-day world leaders, with a more and more clear and audacious tone".
Most of his works are serene in tones, in contrast with those expressing Tonitza's involvement in social issues. They proposed a classical aesthetical ideal, viewing art as a treasurer of spiritual values. This message is most obvious in his Northern Dobruja
landscapes, his still life
studies, the portraits of clown
s (celebrated for their way of sublimating the comic and grotesque elements in masks and makeup, in order to reveal a sad humanity), young women and children. The so-called "Tonitza eyes", both point-shaped and expressive, are a characteristic trait in his children portraits. In contrast with their appreciation for these pieces, Zambaccian and other members of Grupul celor patru expostulated the Balchik landscapes: Zambaccian remarked that his were "more like arabesque
s in colored tones, [...] at a time when Şirato evolved upward toward a nuanced painting of a beautiful representativeness in a luminous space".
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n painter, engraver
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
, lithographer
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
, journalist and art critic. Drawing inspiration from Post-impressionism
Post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism is the term coined by the British artist and art critic Roger Fry in 1910 to describe the development of French art since Manet. Fry used the term when he organized the 1910 exhibition Manet and Post-Impressionism...
and Expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
, he had a major role in introducing modernist
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
guidelines to local art
Art of Romania
Art of Romania encompasses the artists and artistic movements in Romania.-Romanian contemporary and modern artists:* Almaşan Virgil* Adela Andea* George Apostu* Corneliu Baba* Calin Baban* Sabin Bălaşa* Horia Bernea* Traian Brădean...
.
Biography
Born in BârladBârlad
Bârlad is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the Bârlad River, which waters the high plains of eastern Moldavia....
, he left his home town in 1902 in order to attend the Iaşi National School of Fine Arts
George Enescu University of Arts of Iaşi
The George Enescu University of Arts is a public university in Iaşi, Romania, founded in 1860. Its focus was remodelled in 1992. Due to the reunion of the Conservatory of music and dramatic art and the National Society of Fine Arts, the institution was regrouped to focus on plastic arts, theatre...
, where he had among his teachers Gheorghe Popovici and Emanoil Bardasare. The following year he visited Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
together with University of Bucharest
University of Bucharest
The University of Bucharest , in Romania, is a university founded in 1864 by decree of Prince Alexander John Cuza to convert the former Saint Sava Academy into the current University of Bucharest.-Presentation:...
students of archeology under the direction of Grigore Tocilescu
Grigore Tocilescu
Grigore George Tocilescu was a Romanian historian, archaeologist, epigrapher and folkorist, member of Romanian Academy....
. During that period, together with some of his fellow students, Tonitza painted the walls of Grozeşti
Grozesti, Iasi
Grozeşti is a commune in Iaşi County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Colţu Cornii, Grozeşti and Sălăgeni.-References:...
church.
In 1908 he left for Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, where he attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich was founded 1808 by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria in Munich as the "Royal Academy of Fine Arts" and is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany...
; he began publishing political cartoons
Editorial cartoon
An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration containing a commentary that usually relates to current events or personalities....
in Furnica, and contributing art criticism
Art criticism
Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art.Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty...
articles to Arta Română. Tonitza spent the following three years in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he visited artists' studios, and studied famous paintings. Although the young artist's creation would initially conform to the prevalent style, his gift for colour and his personal touch would eventually lead him towards experiment. Throughout his life, he remained committed to the Munich School, hailing its innovative style over the supposedly "obscure imitators of Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
".
After his return, Tonitza painted fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
s in several churches of Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
and worked as an art teacher, and then, together with Cezar Petrescu
Cezar Petrescu
Cezar Petrescu was a Romanian journalist, novelist and children's writer.He was inspired by the works of Honoré de Balzac, attempting to write a Romanian novel cycle that would mirror Balzac's La Comédie humaine...
, as editor of Iaşul newspaper. He married Ecaterina Climescu in 1913. The art collector Krikor Zambaccian, whom Tonitza befriended after 1925, indicated that, during its existence, Iaşul sided with the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (Romania, 1880-1918)
The Conservative Party was between 1880 and 1918 one of Romania's two most important parties, the other one being the Liberal Party...
, opposing Romania's entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
In 1916, after Romania entered the conflict, Tonitza was drafted into the Army and fell prisoner
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
to the Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
ns during the Battle of Turtucaia
Battle of Turtucaia
The Battle of Turtucaia in Bulgaria, was the opening battle of the first Central Powers offensive during the Romanian Campaign of World War I...
. Interned, he became ill with malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and rheumatism
Rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
, which would plague him until his death. He was set free and returned in 1918.
During the 1920s, he was a member of the Arta Română group (alongside Gheorghe Petraşcu
Gheorghe Petrascu
Gheorghe Petraşcu was a Romanian painter. He won numerous prizes throughout his lifetime and had his paintings exhibited posthumously at the Paris International Exhibition and the Venice Biennale. He was the brother of N. Petraşcu, a literary critic and novelist.-External links:**...
and others). His commitment to social commentary is best perceivable in his graphic work, malitious and sometimes dramatical — he sketched for many contemporary, usually political and leftist
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
, magazines: Socialismul (official voice of the short-lived Socialist Party of Romania
Socialist Party of Romania
The Socialist Party of Romania was a Romanian socialist political party, created on December 11, 1918 by members of the Romanian Social Democratic Party , after the latter emerged from clandestinity...
), Adevărul
Adevarul
Adevărul is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in 1871 and reestablished in 1888, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Romanian Kingdom's existence, adopting an independent pro-democratic position, advocating land reform and universal suffrage...
, Flacăra
Flacăra
Flacăra is a weekly magazine published in Bucharest, Romania, originally as a literary periodical....
, Hiena, Rampa, and Scarlat Callimachi
Scarlat Callimachi (communist activist)
Scarlat Callimachi or Calimachi was a Romanian journalist, essayist, futurist poet, trade unionist, and communist activist, a member of the Callimachi family of boyar and Phanariote lineage...
's Clopotul —, and in his articles (including the ones in Viaţa Românească
Viata Româneasca
Viaţa Românească, originally Viaţa Romînească , is a monthly literary magazine published in Romania...
and Curentul), which mainly discussed cultural and social events. He became close to the writer and activist Gala Galaction
Gala Galaction
Gala Galaction was a Romanian Orthodox clergyman and theologian, writer, journalist, left-wing activist, as well as a political figure of the People's Republic of Romania...
, whose book O lume nouă he illustrated in 1919, and whose portrait ("The Man of a New World") he painted one year later. His first catalog, issued in 1920, was prefaced by the poet and art critic Tudor Arghezi
Tudor Arghezi
Tudor Arghezi was a Romanian writer, best known for his contribution to poetry and children's literature. Born Ion N. Theodorescu in Bucharest , he explained that his pen name was related to Argesis, the Latin name for the Argeş River.-Early life:Along with Mihai Eminescu, Mateiu Caragiale, and...
.
In 1921, Tonitza expanded his range, painting prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
s for a ceramics
Ceramics (art)
In art history, ceramics and ceramic art mean art objects such as figures, tiles, and tableware made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery. Some ceramic products are regarded as fine art, while others are regarded as decorative, industrial or applied art objects, or as...
factory, and organizing a ceramics exhibition; the same year, he moved to Vălenii de Munte
Valenii de Munte
Vălenii de Munte is a town in Prahova County, southern Romania , with a population of about 13,309. It lies on the Teleajen River valley, 28 km north of the county seat of Ploieşti....
, and decided to cease contributing to the press. It was at the time that he developed on his characteristic style and themes, both of which, Zambaccian contended, were determined by his experiences as a father.
Later, he became the editor of the art magazine Artele Frumoase, and, in 1922, traveled to Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, where he befriended Aurel Popp. The same year, he took Camil Ressu
Camil Ressu
Camil Ressu was a Romanian painter and academic, one of the most significant art figures of Romania.-Early life and career:Born in Galaţi, Ressu originated from an Aromanian family that migrated to Romania from Macedonia at the start of the 19th century. His father, Constantin Ressu, who was a...
's defense during a scandal involving the latter's design for a National Theater curtain, attacking the artistic guidelines advocated by the cultural establishment ("[Romania is] the country where scientist historians compose erotic pieces and embarrassing rhymes, [...] where intellectual
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
women draw the gusty gestures of decrepit election agent
Election agent
In elections in the United Kingdom, as well as in certain other similar political systems such as India's, an election agent is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is sent to by those running the election. In elections in...
s, [...] where physicians push their rusty hypodermics
Hypodermic needle
A hypodermic needle is a hollow needle commonly used with a syringe to inject substances into the body or extract fluids from it...
into the unmentionable muscle tissues of artists as a means to draw up aesthetical logarithm
Logarithm
The logarithm of a number is the exponent by which another fixed value, the base, has to be raised to produce that number. For example, the logarithm of 1000 to base 10 is 3, because 1000 is 10 to the power 3: More generally, if x = by, then y is the logarithm of x to base b, and is written...
s"). In 1926, Tonitza, Oscar Han
Oscar Han
Oscar Han was a Romanian sculptor and writer. A student of Dimitrie Paciurea at the Academy of Arts in Bucharest, he was a member of the Group of Four together with painters Nicolae Tonitza, Francisc Şirato and Ştefan Dimitrescu...
, Francisc Şirato
Francisc Sirato
Francisc Şirato was a Romanian painter, graphic artist, art critic, and designer.-External links:*...
, and Ştefan Dimitrescu
Stefan Dimitrescu
Ştefan Dimitrescu was a Romanian Post-impressionist painter and draftsman.-Biography:Born in Huşi into a modest family, he completed his primary and secondary studies in his hometown...
, organized themselves as Grupul celor patru ("The Group of Four"). He met success in 1925, after opening a large exhibit of his Vălenii de Munte paintings in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, while raising controversy (including criticism from Ressu) over his "poster
Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...
-like" style.
Despite his fame, he continued to live an impoverished and hectic existence, which probably contributed to the decline of his health. By 1931, he was dividing his time between Bucharest and Constanţa
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
, having agreed to paint the walls of Saint George's Church in the latter city. Tonitza was angered by the reception of his work in Constanţa, declaring himself insulted after he was made to showcase his designs in competition to lesser-known artists. Eventually, he received the commission, and spent the next two years at work on the murals, while distancing himself from Grupul celor patru.
Upon Dimitrescu's death in 1933, Tonitza held his chair at the Fine Arts Academy in Iaşi. A participant in several national exhibitions and World Fairs
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
, he painted his last works around Balchik
Balchik
Balchik is a Black Sea coastal town and seaside resort in the Southern Dobruja area of northeastern Bulgaria. It is located in Dobrich Oblast and is 42 km northeast of Varna...
.
According to Zambaccian, Tonitza's early association with socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
was partly due to the interest taken in him by the leftist press, who was willing to reward his contributions at a time when "one could not live solely by painting". The same source stated that the artist later refrained from expressing political opinions, and, on one occasion during the 1930s, jokingly referred to himself as "a supporter of Petre P. Carp
Petre P. Carp
Petre P. Carp , commonly rendered as P. P. Carp, was a Romanian conservative politician and literary critic who served as a Prime Minister of Romania for two terms...
" (the Conservative leader had died in 1919). Nevertheless, he signed, alongside several other prominent cultural figures, an appeal to tighten cultural connections between Romania and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, leading to the creation of Societatea pentru întreţinerea raporturilor culturale dintre România şi Uniunea Sovietică (the Society for Maintaining Cultural Links between Romania and the Soviet Union) in May 1935 (see Amicii URSS
Amicii URSS
Amicii URSS was a cultural association in interwar Romania, uniting left-wing and anti-fascist intellectuals who advocated a détente between their country and Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union Amicii URSS (Romanian for "[The] Friends of the Soviet Union"; , occasionally known as Prietenii URSS , which...
).
He fell severely ill in 1937, and died three years later. He is buried at the Ghencea cemetery
Ghencea cemetery
Ghencea cemetery, located in Ghencea, Bucharest, Romania, has two branches, military and civilian. A number of prominent figures are buried there, including Nicolae, Elena and Nicu Ceauşescu, Gheorghe Argeşanu, Ilie Verdeţ, Costică Toma and Nicolae Tonitza....
, in Bucharest.
Art
Stefan Luchian
Ștefan Luchian or Lukian was a Romanian painter, famous for his landscapes and still life works.-Early life:He was born in Ștefănești, a village of Botoșani County, as the son of Major Dumitru Luchian and of Elena Chiriacescu. The Luchian family moved to Bucharest in 1873 and his mother desired...
, Tonitza was largely inspired by Impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
, but he equally admired the discoveries made by Post-impressionist
Post-Impressionism
Post-Impressionism is the term coined by the British artist and art critic Roger Fry in 1910 to describe the development of French art since Manet. Fry used the term when he organized the 1910 exhibition Manet and Post-Impressionism...
artists (their revolution in composition
Composition (visual arts)
In the visual arts – in particular painting, graphic design, photography and sculpture – composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art or a photograph, as distinct from the subject of a work...
and Belle Époque
Belle Époque
The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque was a period in European social history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic and the German Empire, it was a period characterised by optimism and new technological and medical...
splendor). Tonitza was notably critical of Nicolae Grigorescu
Nicolae Grigorescu
Nicolae Grigorescu was one of the founders of modern Romanian painting.-Biography:He was born in Pitaru, Dâmboviţa County, Wallachia. In 1843 the family moved to Bucharest. At a young age , he became an apprentice at the workshop of the painter Anton Chladek and created icons for the church of...
, the major trend-setter in Romanian art, whose success over "peasant motifs", he stated, had "lured him to remain, for the rest of his life, in this rosy and light-hearted atmosphere". He equally objected to Grigorescu's influence over younger generations, which had led to "mannerism
Mannerism
Mannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
" and "nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
" in choice of subjects, and the emergent urbane art ("where man shall represent only a decorative and amusing accessory").
Evidencing his "tormented life" and "fantasy-driven and bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
lifestyle", Zambaccian wondered if these had not been the source of Tonitza's "ingenious art, full of chromatic joys that are nonetheless transited by melancholia
Melancholia
Melancholia , also lugubriousness, from the Latin lugere, to mourn; moroseness, from the Latin morosus, self-willed, fastidious habit; wistfulness, from old English wist: intent, or saturnine, , in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression,...
". He drew a direct comparison between the artist's innovative presence in painting and George Bacovia
George Bacovia
George Bacovia was a Romanian symbolist poet. While he initially belonged to the local Symbolist movement, his poetry came to be seen as a precursor of Romanian Modernism and eventually established him in critical esteem alongside Tudor Arghezi, Lucian Blaga and Ion Barbu as one of the most...
's Symbolist
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
poetry.
During his stay abroad, Nicolae Tonitza was influenced by the works of Rembrandt and Antonio da Correggio
Antonio da Correggio
Antonio Allegri da Correggio , usually known as Correggio, was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sensuous works of the 16th century...
. An admirer of both Frans Masereel
Frans Masereel
Frans Masereel was a Flemish painter and graphic artist who worked mainly in France. He is known especially for his woodcuts. His greatest work is generally said to be the wordless graphic novel Mon Livre d'Heures . He completed over 20 other wordless novels in his career...
and Käthe Kollwitz
Käthe Kollwitz
Käthe Kollwitz was a German painter, printmaker, and sculptor whose work offered an eloquent and often searing account of the human condition in the first half of the 20th century...
, he also adapted Expressionist
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
guidelines — ones especially present in his satirical drawings, but also manifested large works such as Coadă la pâine ("Queuing for Bread", 1920). According to Zambaccian, Tonitza stopped short of adopting clear Expressionist tenets ("Modigliani
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. Primarily a figurative artist, he became known for paintings and sculptures in a modern style characterized by mask-like faces and elongation of form...
and Pascin
Pascin
Julius Mordecai Pincas, known as Pascin, Jules Pascin, or the "Prince of Montparnasse", was born in Bulgaria to parents of four ethnicities. During World War I, he worked in the United States. He is best known as a painter in Paris, where he was strongly identified with the Modernist movement and...
favored contorting [shapes], while Tonitza does not stray away from nature and places an emphasis on feeling"); the two continued to oppose each other on the issue of Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
's style (admired by Zambaccian, by hotly contested by Tonitza). A more distant but no less direct influence was the graphic art of Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier
Honoré Daumier was a French printmaker, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor, whose many works offer commentary on social and political life in France in the 19th century....
, which Tonitza had studied.
The early art produced by these influences was described in Sburătorul
Sburatorul
Sburătorul was a Romanian modernist literary magazine and literary society, established in Bucharest in April 1919. Led by Eugen Lovinescu, the circle was instrumental in developing new trends and styles in Romanian literature, ranging from a new wave of Romanian Symbolism to an urban-themed...
by Şirato, Tonitza's friend, as "paintings which are [in fact] drawings with a light resonance of intellectualism"; during the period, Rampa magazine hailed the painter as "A priest of humanitarian
Humanitarianism
In its most general form, humanitarianism is an ethic of kindness, benevolence and sympathy extended universally and impartially to all human beings. Humanitarianism has been an evolving concept historically but universality is a common element in its evolution...
ideas, of ideas demanding the attention of present-day world leaders, with a more and more clear and audacious tone".
Most of his works are serene in tones, in contrast with those expressing Tonitza's involvement in social issues. They proposed a classical aesthetical ideal, viewing art as a treasurer of spiritual values. This message is most obvious in his Northern Dobruja
Northern Dobruja
Northern Dobruja is the part of Dobruja within the borders of Romania. It lies between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, bordered in south by Bulgarian Southern Dobruja.-Geography:...
landscapes, his still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
studies, the portraits of clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...
s (celebrated for their way of sublimating the comic and grotesque elements in masks and makeup, in order to reveal a sad humanity), young women and children. The so-called "Tonitza eyes", both point-shaped and expressive, are a characteristic trait in his children portraits. In contrast with their appreciation for these pieces, Zambaccian and other members of Grupul celor patru expostulated the Balchik landscapes: Zambaccian remarked that his were "more like arabesque
Arabesque
The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements...
s in colored tones, [...] at a time when Şirato evolved upward toward a nuanced painting of a beautiful representativeness in a luminous space".