Nicolae Grigorescu

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Nicolae Grigorescu
École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts
Known forPainting, drawing
Notable workȚărancă din Muscel, Car cu boi, Atacul de la Smârdan, Fata cu basmaua galbenă
MovementBarbizon school, Impressionism

Nicolae Grigorescu (Romanian pronunciation: [nikoˈla.e ɡriɡoˈresku]; 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 general Leontin Sălăjan. Romanian currency features Grigorescu on the 10 Lei bank note.

Biography

He was born in

Barbu Ştirbei
, together with a petition asking for financial aid for his studies.

Between 1856 and 1857, he painted the church of the

Agapia monastery. With the help of Mihail Kogălniceanu
, he received a scholarship to study in France.

In the autumn of 1861, young Grigorescu left for Paris, where he studied at the

Paris Salon
of 1868 the painting Tânără ţigancă (Young Gypsy girl).

He returned to Romania a few times and starting in 1870 he participated in the exhibits of living artists and those organized by the Society of the Friends of the Belle-Arts. Between 1873 and 1874 he traveled to Italy, Greece and Vienna.

In 1877 he was called to accompany the

Romanian Army as a "frontline painter" in the Romanian War of Independence. During the battles at the Grivitsa Strongpoint and Oryahovo
, he made drawings and sketches which later used in creating larger-scale works.

In 1889 his work was featured in the

Romanian Atheneum
. Centerpiece exhibits took place at the Romanian Atheneum would follow in 1891, 1895, 1897, 1902, and 1905.

From 1879 to 1890 he worked in France, especially in Vitré, Brittany, and in his workshop in Paris. In 1890 he settled in Câmpina and started depicting pastoral themes, especially portraits of peasant girls, pictures of ox carts on dusty country roads and other landscapes. He was named honorary member of the Romanian Academy in 1899.

At the time of his death, Grigorescu had been working on his Întoarcerea de la bâlci (The Return from the Fair). His house in Câmpina opened as the Nicolae Grigorescu Memorial Museum in 1957.

Selected paintings

  • Girls at the Gate
    Girls at the Gate
  • Fisherwoman at Grandville
    Fisherwoman at Grandville
  • Joyful Peasant Woman
    Joyful Peasant Woman
  • Oxcart
    Oxcart
  • Woman on the Beach
    Woman on the Beach
  • Bugler
    Bugler
  • Guardsman
    Guardsman
  • Andreescu at Barbizon
    Andreescu at Barbizon
  • Head of a Peasant
    Head of a Peasant
  • Girl with Her Dowry
    Girl with Her Dowry
  • Entering the Bath
    Entering the Bath
  • Old Woman Darning
    Old Woman Darning
  • Peasant from Muscel
    Peasant from Muscel
  • Nude
    Nude
  • Portrait of a Girl
    Portrait of a Girl
  • The Guardian of Chailly
    The Guardian of Chailly
  • Interior in Vitré
    Interior in Vitré
  • Hebrew with Caftan
    Hebrew with Caftan
  • Prince Dragos and the Bison
    Prince Dragos and the Bison

Sources

  • Virgil Cioflec
    : Grigorescu, Editura Cultura Națională, Bucharest, 1925
  • Barbu Brezianu: Nicolae Grigorescu, Tineretului, Bucharest, 1959
  • George Oprescu and Remus Niculescu: Nicolae Grigorescu, 2 vol. Curier Rapid, Bucharest, 1961–1962
  • Mircea Popescu: "N. Grigorescu", series: Arta pentru toți, Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1962
  • Alexandru Vlahuță: Pictorul Nicolae Grigorescu, Editura Tineretului, Bucharest, 1969
  • George Sorin Movileanu and Vasile Florea: Grigorescu, Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1978
  • Mariana Vida and Monica Enache: Grigorescu – Commemorative album on the 100th anniversary of the artist's death, edited by the
    National Art Museum of Romania
    on the occasion of the retrospective exhibition "Grigorescu painter of nature" held at the Gallery, 2007
  • Alexandru Cebuc: Grigorescu, Editura Monitorul Oficial al României, Bucharest, 2008
  • Iulia Iliescu and Marina Motroc: Viața și opera lui Grigorescu, Editura Monitorul Oficial R.A., Bucharest, 2009

External links