Stefan Luchian
Encyclopedia
Ștefan Luchian or Lukian (ʃteˈfan lukiˈan; 1 February 1868 – 28 June 1917) was a Romania
n painter, famous for his landscapes
and still life
works.
, 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 that he would follow his father's path and join the Military School. Instead, in 1885, Luchian joined the painting class at the Fine Arts School, where he was encouraged to pursue a career in art by Nicolae Grigorescu
, whose work was to have a major impact on his entire creative life.
Starting in autumn of 1889 Luchian studied for two semesters at the Munich
Fine Arts Academy
, where he created copies of the works by Correggio and Rembrandt housed in the Kunstareal
. After his return to Romania, he took part in the first exhibition of the Cercul Artistic art group.
He showed himself unable to accept the academic
guidelines imposed by the Bavaria
n and Romanian schools. The following year, he left for Paris
, where he studied at the Académie Julian
, and, although taught by the academic artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau
, became acquainted with impressionist
works of art. Luchian's painting Ultima cursă de toamnă shows the influence of Édouard Manet
and Edgar Degas
, but also echoes of the Société des Artistes Indépendants
, Modernism
, and Post-impressionism
(also obvious in works created after his return to Bucharest).
In 1896, together with Nicolae Vermont
, Constantin Artachino, and the art collector, Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești
, Stefan Luchian was one of the main founders of Bucharest's Salonul Independenţilor, which was opened in front of the official Salon (the Romanian equivalent of the Paris Salon
). Two years later, the group led to the creation of Societatea Ileana and its press organ, Ileana, with Luchian as the original illustrator. From then on Luchian began integrating Symbolist
elements in his work, taking inspiration from various related trends: Art Nouveau
, Jugendstil and Mir iskusstva
(see Symbolist movement in Romania
).
In 1900, Luchian contributed two pastel
s to Romania's Pavilion
at the World Fair
, and in the same year suffered the first symptoms of multiple sclerosis
, the disease which, after some initial improvements, was to haunt him for the rest of his life. Nonetheless, he continued painting and, until 1915, had his works displayed in numerous exhibitions, albeit to a largely indifferent public. At his 1905 exhibition, the only buyer of a painting was his former teacher Grigorescu. Despite being appreciated by a select few (including the writer Ion Luca Caragiale
), Luchian lived in poverty (the large fortune he had inherited was progressively drained).
Paralysed
from 1909, he had to live the rest of his life in an armchair. This did not prevent him from working on an entire series of landscapes and flowers. He had begun flower paintings earlier, but from 1908 he concentrated all his creative energy into the subject. Toward the end of his life, Luchian was no longer able to hold the painter's brush with his fingers, and was instead helped to tie it to his wrist in order to continue work.
At the time, he had begun enjoying considerable success — a phenomenon which the writer Tudor Arghezi
attributed to the momentary rise of Take Ionescu
as a politician (Ionescu had become the center of a fashion and subject of imitation, and he was among the first to buy more than one of Luchian's paintings). As his disease became notorious, a rumor spread that Luchian allowed someone else to paint in his name; the scandal brough about Luchian's arrest under charges of fraud
(he was released soon after). Arghezi took pride in being one of his few defenders.
One of the last events in Luchian's life was a visit paid to his house by composer and violinist George Enescu
. Although the two had never met before, Enescu played his instrument as a personal tribute to the dying artist.
He died in Bucharest
and he was buried at the Bellu Cemetery
.
was becoming the subject of disputes in the cultural world, with several critics claiming that his work had been minor and the details of his life exaggerated. Arghezi was again involved in the polemic, and wrote passionate pieces which supported Luchian's art and attributed adverse reactions to jealousy and to Luchian's voiced distaste for mediocrity.
In 1948, Luchian was posthumously elected to the Romanian Academy
. An art school in Botoșani
bears his name.
His life was the subject of Nicolae Mărgineanu's 1981 film
, Luchian, where his character was played by Ion Caramitru
(Maria Ploae was Luchian's sister; other actors starring in the film where George Constantin, Ştefan Velniciuc, Florin Călinescu
as Arghezi, and Adrian Pintea
as Nicolae Tonitza
).
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, famous for his landscapes
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
and 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...
works.
Early life
He was born in ȘtefăneștiStefanesti, Botosani
Ştefăneşti is a small town in Botoşani County, Romania. It administers four villages: Bădiuţi, Bobuleşti, Stânca and Ştefăneşti-Sat.The painter Ştefan Luchian was born here, as well as Vlad Onicescu, the father of the mathematician Octav Onicescu...
, a village of Botoșani County
Botosani County
Botoșani is a county of Romania, in Moldavia, with the capital city at Botoșani.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 452,834 and the population density was 91/km2.*Romanians – – the highest percentage of Romanians in Romania...
, as the son of Major Dumitru Luchian and of Elena Chiriacescu. The Luchian family moved to 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....
in 1873 and his mother desired that he would follow his father's path and join the Military School. Instead, in 1885, Luchian joined the painting class at the Fine Arts School, where he was encouraged to pursue a career in art by 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...
, whose work was to have a major impact on his entire creative life.
Starting in autumn of 1889 Luchian studied for two semesters at the 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...
Fine Arts Academy
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...
, where he created copies of the works by Correggio and Rembrandt housed in the Kunstareal
Kunstareal
The Kunstareal is a museum quarter in the city centre of Munich, Germany.It consists of the three "Pinakotheken" galleries , the Glyptothek, the Staatliche Antikensammlung , the Lenbachhaus, the Museum Brandhorst and...
. After his return to Romania, he took part in the first exhibition of the Cercul Artistic art group.
He showed himself unable to accept the academic
Academic art
Academic art is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. Specifically, academic art is the art and artists influenced by the standards of the French Académie des Beaux-Arts, which practiced under the movements of Neoclassicism and Romanticism,...
guidelines imposed by the Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n and Romanian schools. The following year, he left for 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 studied at the Académie Julian
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
, and, although taught by the academic artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau was a French academic painter. William Bouguereau was a traditionalist; in his realistic genre paintings he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of Classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female human body.-Life and career :William-Adolphe...
, became acquainted with impressionist
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...
works of art. Luchian's painting Ultima cursă de toamnă shows the influence of Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
and Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas[p] , born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, was a French artist famous for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist...
, but also echoes of the Société des Artistes Indépendants
Société des Artistes Indépendants
—The Société des Artistes Indépendants formed in Paris in summer 1884 choosing the device "No jury nor awards" . Albert Dubois-Pillet, Odilon Redon, Georges Seurat and Paul Signac were among its founders...
, Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
, and 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...
(also obvious in works created after his return to Bucharest).
Chronic illness and death
Garoafe 1907; Vara 1912; Casa lui Mos Brebu la.In 1896, together with Nicolae Vermont
Nicolae Vermont
Nicolae Vermont was a Romanian realist painter, graphic artist and muralist. He was noted for his wide range of subjects and his interest in social issues, and was an associate of the post-Impressionists Ştefan Luchian and Constantin Artachino, as well as a friend of the controversial art...
, Constantin Artachino, and the art collector, Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești
Alexandru Bogdan-Pitesti
Alexandru Bogdan-Piteşti was a Romanian Symbolist poet, essayist, and art and literary critic, who was also known as a journalist and left-wing political agitator. A wealthy landowner, he invested his fortune in patronage and art collecting, becoming one of the main local promoters of modern art,...
, Stefan Luchian was one of the main founders of Bucharest's Salonul Independenţilor, which was opened in front of the official Salon (the Romanian equivalent of the Paris Salon
Paris Salon
The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
). Two years later, the group led to the creation of Societatea Ileana and its press organ, Ileana, with Luchian as the original illustrator. From then on Luchian began integrating 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...
elements in his work, taking inspiration from various related trends: Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
, Jugendstil and Mir iskusstva
Mir iskusstva
Mir iskusstva was a Russian magazine and the artistic movement it inspired and embodied, which was a major influence on the Russians who helped revolutionize European art during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1909, many of the miriskusniki also contributed to the Ballets Russes...
(see Symbolist movement in Romania
Symbolist movement in Romania
The Symbolist movement in Romania, active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, marked the development of Romanian culture in both literature and visual arts...
).
In 1900, Luchian contributed two pastel
Pastel
Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....
s to Romania's Pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
at the World Fair
Exposition Universelle (1900)
The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from April 15 to November 12, 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next...
, and in the same year suffered the first symptoms of multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
, the disease which, after some initial improvements, was to haunt him for the rest of his life. Nonetheless, he continued painting and, until 1915, had his works displayed in numerous exhibitions, albeit to a largely indifferent public. At his 1905 exhibition, the only buyer of a painting was his former teacher Grigorescu. Despite being appreciated by a select few (including the writer Ion Luca Caragiale
Ion Luca Caragiale
Ion Luca Caragiale was a Wallachian-born Romanian playwright, short story writer, poet, theater manager, political commentator and journalist...
), Luchian lived in poverty (the large fortune he had inherited was progressively drained).
Paralysis
Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...
from 1909, he had to live the rest of his life in an armchair. This did not prevent him from working on an entire series of landscapes and flowers. He had begun flower paintings earlier, but from 1908 he concentrated all his creative energy into the subject. Toward the end of his life, Luchian was no longer able to hold the painter's brush with his fingers, and was instead helped to tie it to his wrist in order to continue work.
At the time, he had begun enjoying considerable success — a phenomenon which the writer 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...
attributed to the momentary rise of Take Ionescu
Take Ionescu
Take or Tache Ionescu was a Romanian centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Starting his political career as a radical member of the National Liberal Party , he joined the Conservative Party in 1891, and became noted as a social...
as a politician (Ionescu had become the center of a fashion and subject of imitation, and he was among the first to buy more than one of Luchian's paintings). As his disease became notorious, a rumor spread that Luchian allowed someone else to paint in his name; the scandal brough about Luchian's arrest under charges of fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
(he was released soon after). Arghezi took pride in being one of his few defenders.
One of the last events in Luchian's life was a visit paid to his house by composer and violinist George Enescu
George Enescu
George Enescu was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher.-Biography:Enescu was born in the village of Liveni , Dorohoi County at the time, today Botoşani County. He showed musical talent from early in his childhood. A child prodigy, Enescu created his first musical...
. Although the two had never met before, Enescu played his instrument as a personal tribute to the dying artist.
He died 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....
and he was buried at the Bellu Cemetery
Bellu
Bellu is the most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania.It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu...
.
Legacy
By the 1930s, Luchian's impact on Romanian artArt 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...
was becoming the subject of disputes in the cultural world, with several critics claiming that his work had been minor and the details of his life exaggerated. Arghezi was again involved in the polemic, and wrote passionate pieces which supported Luchian's art and attributed adverse reactions to jealousy and to Luchian's voiced distaste for mediocrity.
In 1948, Luchian was posthumously elected to the Romanian Academy
Romanian Academy
The Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....
. An art school in Botoșani
Botosani
Botoșani is the capital city of Botoșani County, in northern Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu and Nicolae Iorga.- Origin of the name :...
bears his name.
His life was the subject of Nicolae Mărgineanu's 1981 film
1981 in film
-Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it....
, Luchian, where his character was played by Ion Caramitru
Ion Caramitru
Ion Caramitru is a Romanian stage and film actor, stage director, as well as a political figure. He was Minister of Culture between 1996 and 2000, in the Romanian Democratic Convention cabinets of Victor Ciorbea, Gavril Dejeu, Radu Vasile, Alexandru Athanasiu, and Mugur Isărescu.-Early life and...
(Maria Ploae was Luchian's sister; other actors starring in the film where George Constantin, Ştefan Velniciuc, Florin Călinescu
Florin Călinescu
Florin Călinescu is a Romanian actor, theatre director and television host.- References :...
as Arghezi, and Adrian Pintea
Adrian Pintea
Adrian Virgil Pintea was a Romanian actor.-Career:Pintea graduated from the Theatrical and Cinematographical Arts Institute in Romania . He appeared in the 2005 Romanian film Femeia visurilor directed by Dan Piţa. Pintea made his last appearance in Francis Ford Coppola's 2007 film Youth Without...
as Nicolae Tonitza
Nicolae Tonitza
Nicolae Tonitza was a Romanian 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.-Biography:...
).