Ștefan Dimitrescu (January 18, 1886 – May 22, 1933) was a
Romanian
Post-impressionist
Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...
painter and draftsman.
Biography
Born in
Huși into a modest family, he completed his primary and secondary studies in his hometown. In 1903, deciding to follow his passion for music, he left for
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
, where he took
cello classes at the
Iași Conservatory.
[Oltean, p.308-309]
In summer of 1903, Dimitrescu entered the National School of Fine Arts in the city, studying in the same class as
Nicolae Tonitza; the two studied under
Gheorghe Popovici
Gheorghe Popovici (5 October 1859, Iași - 24 February 1933, Iași) was a Romanian painter and designer in the Academic style.
Biography
He spent his childhood in Hotin. Later, he attended the secondary schools in Iași, graduating from the '' ...
and
Emanoil Bardasare Emanoil is a Romanian-language masculine given name, and may refer to:
*Emanoil Bacaloglu (1830–1891), Wallachian and Romanian mathematician, physicist, chemist, scubadiver, etc.
*Emanoil Badoi (born 1975), Romanian football full back
*Emanoil BÃ ...
. After graduation, Dimitrescu painted murals for the
Orthodox churches in
Agăș and
Asău
Asău is a commune in Bacău County, Western Moldavia, Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungar ...
(
Bacău County).
Between 1912 and 1913, he studied in
Paris, at the
Académie de la Grande Chaumière, during which time he was attracted to
Impressionism.
[Drăguţ ''et al.'', p.201]
Drafted into the
Romanian Army at the start of the
Romanian Campaign
The Kingdom of Romania was neutral for the first two years of World War I, entering on the side of the Allied powers from 27 August 1916 until Central Power occupation led to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, before reentering the war on 10 ...
of
World War I, Dimitrescu was profoundly touched by the experience, and began painting tragic pieces that documented the misery brought by the conflict. Like his friend Tonitza, he began exploring social themes, such as
queuing and the effects of bombardments.
In 1917, along with the painters
Camil Ressu,
Iosif Iser,
Marius Bunescu and the sculptors
Dimitrie Paciurea,
Cornel Medrea,
Ion Jalea and
Oscar Han, he founded the ''Art of Romania'' association in their Iași refuge. In 1926, Dimitrescu, with
Oscar Han,
Francisc Șirato
Francisc Åžirato (August 15, 1877, Craiova
Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding poli ...
, and
Nicolae Tonitza, established ''Grupul celor patru'' ("The Group of Four").
He became a teacher at the Iași National School of Fine Arts in 1927, and, during the next year, he was named its headmaster (a position he held until his death). Towards the end of his life, Dimitrescu began expanding his palette to cover more somber colors, while exploring
compositions
Composition or Compositions may refer to:
Arts and literature
* Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography
*Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...
in which the background was stripped of details and usually of a dominant white.
He died in
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
and he was buried at the Eternitatea Cemetery.
Art
Most of Dimitrescu's paintings take inspiration mainly from the life of simple folk, and especially from that of Romanian peasants and miners; they attempt to portray Romanian traditions and way of life, drawing on his encounters with both
Byzantine art and the work of
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a ...
.
Part of his art (between 1926 and 1933) was inspired by his travels to
Dobruja, and have been considered to be the most accomplished synthesis between his craft as a draftsman and his art as a painter.
[Drăguţ ''et al.'', p.204]
Many of his works are exhibited in
Bârlad (at the
Vasile Pârvan Museum),
Bucharest (the
National Museum of Art of Romania and the
Zambaccian Museum
The Zambaccian Museum in Bucharest, Romania is a museum in the former home of Krikor Zambaccian (1889 –1962), a businessman and art collector. The museum was founded in the DorobanÈ›i neighbourhood in 1947, closed by the CeauÅŸescu regime ...
),
Cluj-Napoca
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status
, subdivision_name2 ...
(
Cluj Art Museum) and in private collections outside Romania (in
Austria,
Belgium,
France and
Germany).
Gallery
''Click on an image to view it enlarged.''
Image:Stefan Dimitrescu - Femei tesand la razboi.jpg, ''Peasant women working at a loom''
Image:Stefan Dimitrescu - Bunelul.jpg, ''The grandfather''
Image:Stefan Dimitrescu - Taranci din Saliste.jpg, ''Peasant women from Sălişte''
Image:Stefan Dimitrescu - Tiganci din Dobrogea.jpg, ''Gypsies from Dobruja'' (1927)
Image:Stefan Dimitrescu - Femei pe plaja.jpg, ''Women on the beach''
Image:Stefan Dimitrescu - Peisaj din Mangalia.jpg, ''Landscape from Mangalia''
Image:Stefan Dimitrescu - Turci la Mangalia.jpg, ''Turks in Mangalia''
Image:Stefan Dimitrescu - Bucatareasa.jpg, ''The cook'' (1926)
Notes
References
*Ionel Jianu, ''Stefan Dimitrescu'', Editura de Stat pentru Literatura si Arta, Bucharest, 1954
*Beatrice Bednarik, ''Stefan Dimitrescu'', Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1965
*
Raul Șorban
Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul.
Raul, Raúl or Raül may r ...
, ''Nicolae Tonitza'', Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1965
*Oscar Han, ''Dalti si pensule'', Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1970
*Vasile Drăguț, Vasile Florea, Dan Grigorescu, Marin Mihalache, ''Pictura românească în imagini'',
Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1970
*Claudiu Paradais, ''Stefan Dimitrescu'', Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1978
*Doina Pauleanu, ''Grupul celor patru'', Editura MO, Bucharest, 2012
*Dana Oltean, ''Pictorul Stefan Dimitrescu si "vioara lui Ingres" în lumina documentelor de arhiva ale Conservatorului din Iasi'', Ioan Neculce. Buletinul Muzeului de Istorie a Moldovei, XXIII, 2017
External links
Gallery A Entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimitrescu, Stefan
1886 births
1933 deaths
People from Huși
Post-impressionist painters
Romanian academics
Romanian painters
Romanian people of World War I
Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière