Lascăr Vorel (19 August 1879 – 8 February 1918) was a Romanian Post-Impressionist painter whose style was linked to Expressionism. He was the scion of a pharmacist clan in Piatra Neamț, but abandoned the family trade to take up drawing, and became a student at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

. Praised as an intellectual as well as a painter, he moved away from Art Nouveau, studying Cubism and Expressionism, and exchanging ideas with a young

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

. Vorel also worked as a cartoonist for ''Der Komet'' magazine, befriending Albert Bloch,

Hanns Bolz Hanns Bolz (22 January 1885, in Aachen – 4 July 1918, in Munich) was a German painter, illustrator and sculptor. He worked in the Expressionist and Cubo-Futurist styles. Biography After studying in Aachen and Cologne, he attended the Kunsta ...

and

Erich Mühsam Erich Mühsam (6 April 1878 – 10 July 1934) was a German-Jewish antimilitarist anarchist essayist, poet and playwright. He emerged at the end of World War I as one of the leading agitators for a federated Bavarian Soviet Republic, for which h ...

, and frequenting Café Stefanie. While active in immediate proximity to the early trends in

German Expressionism German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

, including ''

Der Blaue Reiter ''Der Blaue Reiter'' (The Blue Rider) is a designation by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc for their exhibition and publication activities, in which both artists acted as sole editors in the almanac of the same name, first published in mid-May ...

'', he never joined any artistic society. His avant-garde paintings, which often incorporated social commentary, alternated with more subdued and conventional

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the p ...

and peasant portraits of

Western Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova), also called Western Moldavia or Romanian Moldavia, is the historic and geographical part of the former Principality of Moldavia situated in eastern and north-eastern Romania. Until its union with Wallachia in 1859, the P ...

. Maintaining some interest in Romania's modern art scene, he was featured at '' Tinerimea Artistică'' shows and published sketch stories in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

's literary magazines. Ailing from a chronic kidney disease, Vorel lived a withdrawn existence during World War I. He maintained a lively interest in politics and military developments, expressing his continued support for the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

; he was also increasingly pessimistic about the future of art, and about his own ability to thrive. This period brought him into contact with Romanian writer

Nae Ionescu Nae Ionescu (, born Nicolae C. Ionescu; – 15 March 1940) was a Romanian philosopher, logician, mathematician, professor, and journalist. Near the end of his career, he became known for his antisemitism and devotion to far right politics, in t ...

, who was his admirer and promoter, but Vorel's notebooks suggest that their friendship was superficial. Briefly interned as a hostile alien, Vorel turned to pacifism during his final years, ultimately dying in Munich at age 38. He remains celebrated in Piatra Neamț, where some of his diaries have been published, but is relatively unknown in Romania at large.

Biography

Youth and formation

Born to Czech-Romanian parents in Iași, Lascăr was the great-grandson of Anton Vorel, a well-known

herbalist Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern remed ...

who had arrived in

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...

from the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

.Verzea (2018), p. 70 Mia Vorel, Corina Pavel
"Destine. Din sipetul cu amintiri al unei doamne de viță veche"
in ''Formula As'', Issue 398, 2000 Anton had set up the main pharmacy of Piatra Neamț, which doubled as his medical practice; in tandem, he served as consular official for the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

. The family business was preserved by Anton's grandson, Lascăr Sr, with the Vorels emerging as a family of note in the regional commercial upper class.Mihai Asmarandei, "Fostul laborator Vorel", in ''Ceahlăul'', Issue 238/1968, p. 2 The future painter was born from Lascăr Sr's marriage to Julieta Suess."Personalitatea săptămânii: Un mare pictor expresionist: Lascăr Vorel"
in ''ZCH News'', 15 August 2013 He spent much of his early life in Piatra, with his younger brothers Constantin and Tudor. Lascăr was the only one of his family not to be interested in pharmacy.Verzea (2018), p. 71 Later in life, being almost entirely reliant on his family's financial support, he acknowledged that his pursuits were "anti-economical", that to society he appeared as an "infirm". However, he took pride in noting that his art was without "commercial sense". As he recalled in adulthood, his passion for drawing was first cultivated during his time at the Boys' School in Piatra, and was picked up from a talented schoolmate, Mărgărint, "my first and final master". Taking up art as a full-time occupation, from 1899 or 1900''Personalități ieșene. Aniversări și comemorări 2018'', p. 107. Iași: Asachiana, 2017. he studied in the German Empire, where he subsequently lived a long part of his life. According to his Romanian colleague

Marius Bunescu Marius Bunescu (15 May 1881 – 31 March 1971) was a Romanian painter, organizer of the National Museum of Art, and director of the Anastase Simu Museum. Bunescu was born in Caracal, Romanați County, the son of Ioniță Bunea, a craftsma ...

, his family stipend allowed him to rent a "most beautiful artistic residence, one he would probably never have considered leaving."

"Însemnările unui pictor (IV)"
in ''Memoria Oltului și Romanaților'', Vol. V, Issue 4, April 2016, p. 42 Vorel attended the Munich Academy, where he was taught by

Franz Stuck Franz von Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928), born Franz Stuck, was a German painter, sculptor, printmaker, and architect. Stuck was best known for his paintings of ancient mythology, receiving substantial critical acclaim with '' The ...

. Stuck left notes celebrating Vorel's vision, originality, and "refined taste". From that moment on, Vorel developed a style influenced by the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austr ...

and other branches of Art Nouveau,Grigorescu (1980), p. 438 sending some of his works to be displayed by '' Tinerimea Artistică'', the Secession's equivalent in

. Dumitru Iov, "Cronici. Artă. Dela 'Tinerimea artistică'", in '' Luceafărul'', Issue 12/1914, p. 371 According to Bunescu, he was interested in carving his own artistic niche; therefore, despite being colleagues with

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (; rus, Василий Васильевич Кандинский, Vasiliy Vasilyevich Kandinskiy, vɐˈsʲilʲɪj vɐˈsʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ kɐnʲˈdʲinskʲɪj; – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter a ...

, Vorel never joined ''

''. One of Vorel's early admirers was journalist-philosopher

, who discovered his "surprising newness and high intellectualism", viewing his "tormented" art as a record of Vorel's own existential struggles. Overall, Ionescu argues, Vorel was "one of the most exquisite exemplars of Romanian spirituality." As noted by critic Valentin Ciucă, Vorel was both a shy man with a "complex interior life" and a modernizer, "interested in artistic synchronism, with all newness that existed in art at the start of the century." Another critic,

Petru Comarnescu __NOTOC__ Petru Comarnescu (born 23 November 1905, Iași - d. 27 November 1970, Bucharest) was a Romanian literary and art critic and translator. Born in Iași into a family that was related to the metropolitan bishop Veniamin Costache, he studied ...

, argues that Vorel was above all an "intellectual painter" with a "tragic sense of self." In addition to painting and drawing, he was a published writer of sketch stories. These include ''Măestrul meu'' ("My Masterful"), taken up by ''Viața Literară și Artistică'' journal (1908), as well as a series in '' Noua Revistă Română'' (1913). According to Ionescu, this literary production had "vanished" from public memory within a decade. In 1908–1909, Vorel became interested in Expressionism while attending exhibits of works by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter whose work laid the foundations of the transition from the 19th-century conception of artistic endeavour to a new and radically d ...

, and

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

. His artistic vision fully incorporated Cézanne's geometrical guidelines, resulting in what writer Dumitru Iov viewed as "moderate cubism". Also according to Iov, Vorel was masterful in his 1914 canvass ''The Card Players''. By then, Vorel was in contact with Albert Bloch, an American member of ''

''. In 1910–1912 Vorel, Bloch and

worked as cartoonists for a satirical magazine, ''Der Komet'', which was probably conceived of in Munich's Café Stefanie; the editor was anarchist writer

, who regularly played chess with Vorel. It was as a result of Vorel's intercession that ''Der Komet'' also published cartoons by another Romanian, Nicolae Mantu. Vorel was at the time dating

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

singer Maria "Mucki" Berger (or Bergé). In these circles, Vorel also met

, who lived close to his home on Blütenstrasse. This encounter, mediated by painter Max Bergmann, may have helped to radicalize Duchamp's vision on art. Later in the 1910s, Bloch and Vorel were close friends; they visited each other's studios and drew portraits of one other. Although Vorel ultimately refused to join any particular group of artists, his work shares common traits with that of several German Expressionists—including George Grosz and

Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright, and teacher best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the Viennese Expres ...

.Nicolae, p. 63 Many of his paintings are satirical in theme, and center on grotesque caricatures of bourgeois society or its entertainers. Most of them are painted in

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache ...

, and are dominated by blue, grey, and violet tones.Grigorescu (1970), p. 217 His main stylistic choice was contrasted by works depicting his home region: concentrating on wider compositions and

which included more emotional portraits of peasants and artisans, he made use of lighter tones of color.Constantin Dănciuloiu, "Expoziția de pictură", in ''Avântul'', Issue 175/1939, pp. 1–2 Journalist Constantin Dănciuloiu found these works to be reminiscent of two classical painters,

Jean-Baptiste Greuze Jean-Baptiste Greuze (, 21 August 1725 – 4 March 1805) was a French painter of portraits, genre scenes, and history painting. Biography Early life Greuze was born at Tournus, a market town in Burgundy. He is generally said to have formed h ...

and

Nicolae Grigorescu Nicolae Grigorescu (; 15 May 1838 – 21 July 1907) was one of the founders of modern Romanian painting. There is a metro station named after Grigorescu in Bucharest. It was given his name in 1990, before which it was named after Communist army ...

Final years

Ionescu finally met Vorel in person during early 1914; the two men were possibly reunited in the first half of 1916, which is probably the time-frame for Vorel's only portrait of Ionescu. He described the painter as having an "enormous forehead", "seemingly ready to burst open from the painful pressure of a lingering thought." This self-reflection was "sadistic", because Vorel was always returning to the same conclusion: that old creative forms were no longer sufficient to the modern mindset. After watching Vorel work on his canvasses, Ionescu proposed that his was not painting as much as a "problem-solving" activity. Vorel's private papers document his bouts of anger and depression; in 1915, he described his trade as a form of "clowning around", noting that, at any moment, "hell can reign upon my dwarfish life". He noted that "desperate" work was his only method of fending off uncertainty and isolation, but also that the canvasses he still sent to be exhibited by ''Tinerimea'' were purposefully sketch-like or unfinished. Ionescu reports that Vorel consulted the ''Tinerimea'' catalogue during a regular meeting at Café Stefanie—passing it around to his German colleagues, including Bloch, Bolz, Franz Marc, and

Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the de ...

. Almost all were reportedly impressed with one work by

Ion Theodorescu-Sion Ion Theodorescu-Sion (; also known as Ioan Theodorescu-Sion or Teodorescu-Sion; January 2, 1882 – March 31, 1939) was a Romanian painter and draftsman, known for his contributions to modern art and especially for his traditionalist, primitivist, ...

. Upon the outbreak of World War I, Vorel became an enthusiastic supporter of his adoptive Germany and of the

in general. In his private correspondence, he argued that Germans were "called upon to rule over the world", being especially impressed by Germany's submarine tactics. Vorel commented that peaceful civilization was illusory, and that hatred was the "fundamental habitus of living creatures". He also equated a German victory with the onset of modernization, leading to a "massive output of creative energy". While Romania still kept neutral, Vorel derided its pro- Allied agitators, including

Octavian Goga Octavian Goga (; 1 April 1881 – 7 May 1938) was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Life and politics Goga was born in Rășinari, near Sibiu. Goga was an active member in the Romanian nationalisti ...

and Ioan Toplicescu, endorsing instead the pro-German Petre P. Carp. As he noted in June 1915, Carp's newspaper ''

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

'' was the only thing worth reading. By April 1916, Ionescu was asking Vorel to consider publishing more literary contributions in ''Noua Revistă Română''. One of the artist's private records suggests that he and Mucki were growing disappointed with "our pal I."—perhaps the same Ionescu—, who would feign sickness to demand money from the cash-strapped couple. Battling a chronic disease of the kidneys, Vorel followed "a strict diet and a sedentary regimen." During early 1916, he complained that "my old sore in the loins" was giving him problems in the left ear, and seemingly pushing him into deafness. He was also demanding that his family send him more money to pay for a temporary retreat to the countryside, but noted that he was still working on his circus-themed canvasses. Partly prepared by Bloch, his last exhibit came during summer 1916, at a Munch venue he shared with

Erich Heckel Erich Heckel (31 July 1883 – 27 January 1970) was a German painter and printmaker, and a founding member of the group ''Die Brücke'' ("The Bridge") which existed 1905–1913. His work was part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer ...

. Vorel wrote home to announce that he was engaged to Mucki. The historical context for both these events proved challenging, since, at roughly the same time, Romania was mobilizing to declare war on the Central Powers. Vorel was angered when announcements for his exhibit introduced him as "the Romanian Lascăr Vorel", noting: "this highlighting of my nationality can't possibly serve me in the present circumstances". Bunescu recalls that the Romanian engagement resulted in Vorel's internment as a hostile foreigner, which "shortened his lifespan". From 1917, he was reunited with Bolz, who had been injured during a chemical attack and was recovering in Munich. By then, Vorel had incorporated pacifist protests into his paintings. This was the last major subject of his art. His death occurred on 8 February 1918 at Munich, and was a consequence of his kidney disease. Bloch mourned his death in a sonnet, which describes the event as being "without farewell or warning", suggesting that Vorel had purposefully isolated himself from his friends. He bought and took back to America several of Vorel's Munich cityscapes; one is at the

Spencer Museum of Art The Spencer Museum of Art is an art museum operated by the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Spencer Museum seeks to "...present its collection as a living archive that motivates object-c ...

. The artist's remains were incinerated and then buried at Eternitatea Cemetery in Piatra. His diaries were also recovered, and are preserved in the Piatra Neamț Museum of History archives. In October 1924, Ionescu sought to revived interest in Vorel's work with a tribute piece in ''

Cuvântul ''Cuvântul'' (, meaning "The Word") was a daily newspaper, published by philosopher Nae Ionescu in Bucharest, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It ...

'' daily. It urged Bunescu, by then an official painter, to organize a Vorel posthumous exhibit, since "nobody knows his paintings, and that's a shame." In 1939, the Social Service of the

National Renaissance Front The National Renaissance Front ( ro, Frontul Renașterii Naționale, FRN; also translated as ''Front of National Regeneration'', ''Front of National Rebirth'', ''Front of National Resurrection'', or ''Front of National Renaissance'') was a Romani ...

sponsored a retrospective of Vorel's Romanian works, hosted by Piatra's Petru Rareș National College. Vorel's brothers were the last generation to own the Vorel pharmacy practice before its nationalization by the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

; several members of the family spent time in communist prisons during the 1950s, although Tudor was kept as factory manager. In 1958 the regime allowed a Vorel exhibition to be hosted by a Bucharest gallery. The family's contribution was again recognized from 1983, when a pharmaceutical company took the name ''Plantavorel''. Since 1993, Piatra Neamț hosts a Lascăr Vorel Gallery (part of the

Neamț County Neamț County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. The county takes its name from the Neamț River. Demographics Population In 2011, it had a population of 470,766 ...

Museum Complex). It is the center of a "Vorel Biennale" exhibiting works by contemporary painters. A sample from the painter's diaries, covering the year 1916, appeared at Piatra in 2009.Nicolae, p. 64 Commemorating 100 years since Vorel's death, the Asachi Library of Iași noted that, though an "innovator of art in Romania, as well as worldwide", Vorel remained "quite unfamiliar to art lovers".

Gallery

File:Lascar Vorel - Prima incercare de gravura.jpg, ''My First Attempt at Engraving'', 1901 bookplate File:Lascar Vorel - Portret de femeie.jpg, ''Portrait of a Woman'', 1903 File:Lascăr Vorel - Luceafărul, 15 (28) apr 1904.png, 1904 cover for '' Luceafărul'' File:Lascăr Vorel - Scenă din războiul ruso–japones, Furnica 17 (30) apr 1905.png, 1905 cartoon in '' Furnica'' File:Lascar Vorel - Studentul.jpg, ''The Student'', 1906 File:Lascar Vorel - Portretul tatei.jpg, ''Portrait of My Father'', 1907 File:Lascar Vorel - Drumul pictorului.jpg, ''The Path of the Painter'' (self-portrait), 1907 File:Lascar Vorel - Pescarii.jpg, ''Fishermen'', 1907 File:Lascar Vorel - Contrast.jpg, ''A Contrast'', 1907 File:Lascar Vorel - Uliul - Oameni de afaceri.jpg, ''The Hawk; Businessmen'', 1907 File:Lascar Vorel - Acrobatii.jpeg, ''The Acrobats'' File:Lascar Vorel - Gara.jpg, ''Train Station'' File:Lascar Vorel 1909.jpg, 1909 landscape File:Lascar Vorel - Carul cu boi.jpg, ''Oxcart'' File:Lascar Vorel - Femeia cu mantie rosie.jpg, ''Woman in Red Cape'' File:Lascar Vorel - Agentia Havas (Cancanierii).jpg, ''Havas Agency'' File:Lascar Vorel - Cartoforii.jpg, ''Card Players'', 1914 File:Lascar Vorel - Scena de circ.jpg, ''Circus Scene'' File:Lascar Vorel - In separeu.jpg, ''In the Booth'' File:Lascar Vorel - Barul.jpg, ''The Bar'' File:Lascar Vorel - Peisaj din Herrsching am Ammersee (1).jpg, '' Herrsching am Ammersee'', 1916 File:Lascar Vorel - Vedere din atelier.jpg, ''The View from My Studio''

Notes

References

*Frank Baron, ''Albert Bloch and the Blue Rider. The Munich Years''. Lawrence: Jayhawk Ink at the University of Kansas, 2014. * Dan Grigorescu, **"Pictura românească în prima jumătate a sec. XX", in Vasile Drăguț, Vasile Florea, Dan Grigorescu, Marin Mihalache (eds.), ''Pictura românească în imagini'', pp. 169–264. Bucharest: Editura Meridiane, 1970. **''Istoria unei generații pierdute: expresioniștii''. Bucharest: Editura Eminescu, 1980. *Emil Nicolae, "Nae Ionescu pictat de Lascăr Vorel", in ''Revista Conta'', Issue 14, January–March 2014, pp. 61–65. *Mihaela-Cristina Verzea, **"Inedit. Corespondența pictorului Lascăr Vorel", in ''Revista Conta'', Issues 15–16, April–September 2014, pp. 78–106. **"Pictorul Vorel, un susținător al Kaiserului", in ''

Magazin Istoric ''Magazin Istoric'' ( en, The Historical Magazine) is a Romanian monthly magazine. Overview ''Magazin Istoric'' was started in 1967. The first issue appeared in April 1967. The headquarters is in Bucharest. The monthly magazine contains articles ...

'', July 2018, pp. 70–73.

External links

*
Lascăr Vorel Art Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vorel, Lascar 1879 births 1918 deaths Romanian painters Post-impressionist painters Expressionist painters Art Nouveau painters Cubist artists Romanian cartoonists Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian diarists Artists from Iași People from Piatra Neamț Romanian people of Czech descent Romanian people of Austrian descent Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Romanian expatriates in Germany Romanian people of World War I World War I civilian detainees held by Germany Romanian pacifists Deaths from kidney disease