Stefan Dimitrescu
Encyclopedia
Ştefan Dimitrescu was a Romania
n Post-impressionist
painter and draftsman.
into a modest family, he completed his primary and secondary studies in his hometown. In 1902, deciding to follow his passion for music, he left for Iaşi
, where he took cello
classes at the Iaşi Conservatory
.
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 and Emanoil Bardasare. After graduation, Dimitrescu painted murals for the Orthodox
churches in Agăş and Asău (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
.
Drafted into the Romanian Army at the start of the Romanian Campaign
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 Iaşi refuge. In 1926, Dimitrescu, with Oscar Han
, Francisc Şirato
, and Nicolae Tonitza
, established Grupul celor patru ("The Group of Four").
He became a teacher at the Iaşi 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
in which the background was stripped of details and usually of a dominant white.
He died in Iaşi
and he was buried at the Eternitatea Cemetery.
and the work of Paul Cézanne
.
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.
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
), Cluj-Napoca
(Cluj Art Museum
) and in private collections outside Romania (in Austria
, Belgium
, France
and Germany
).
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 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...
painter and draftsman.
Biography
Born in HuşiHusi
Huși is a city in Vaslui County, Romania, former capital of the disbanded Fălciu County in the historical region of Moldavia, Romanian Orthodox episcopal see, and home of some of the best vineyards of Romania. The city is located on a branch of the Iaşi-Galaţi railway, nine miles west of the Prut...
into a modest family, he completed his primary and secondary studies in his hometown. In 1902, deciding to follow his passion for music, he left for Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
, where he took cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
classes at the Iaşi Conservatory
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...
.
In summer of 1903, Dimitrescu entered the National School of Fine Arts in the city, studying in the same class 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:...
; the two studied under Gheorghe Popovici and Emanoil Bardasare. After graduation, Dimitrescu painted murals for the Orthodox
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
churches in Agăş and Asău (Bacău County
Bacau County
Bacău is a county of Romania, in Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeş-Făget, in Transylvania.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 706,623 and the population density was 113/km²....
).
Between 1912 and 1913, he studied 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...
, at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière
Académie de la Grande Chaumière
The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France. The school was founded in 1902 by the Swiss Martha Stettler , who refused to teach the strict academic rules of painting of the École des Beaux-Arts. It opened the way to the "Art Indépendant"...
, during which time he was attracted to 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...
.
Drafted into the Romanian Army at the start of the Romanian Campaign
Romanian Campaign (World War I)
The Romanian Campaign was part of the Balkan theatre of World War I, with Romania and Russia allied against the armies of the Central Powers. Fighting took place from August 1916 to December 1917, across most of present-day Romania, including Transylvania, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian...
of 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...
, 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
Queue area
Queue areas are places in which people queue for goods or services. Examples include checking out groceries or other goods that have been collected in a self service shop, in a shop without self service, at an ATM, at a ticket desk, a city bus, or in a taxi stand.Queueing is a phenomenon in a...
and the effects of bombardments.
In 1917, along with the painters 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...
, Iosif Iser
Iosif Iser
Iosif Iser was a Romanian painter and graphic artist.Born to a Jewish family, he was initially inspired by Expressionism, creating drawings with thick, unmodulated, lines and steep angles...
, Marius Bunescu
Marius Bunescu
Marius Bunescu was a Romanian painter, organizer of the National Museum of Art, and director of the Anastase Simu Museum....
and the sculptors Dimitrie Paciurea
Dimitrie Paciurea
Dimitrie Paciurea – 14 July 1932) was a Romanian sculptor. His representational and symbolic style contrasts strongly to the more abstract style of his contemporary and co-national Constantin Brâncuşi....
, Cornel Medrea
Cornel Medrea
Cornel Medrea was a Romanian sculptor.He won numerous awards, including Honorary Diploma at the Barcelona International Exhibition, 1929; Great Prize at the Paris International Exhibition, 1937; International Prize at the New York Exhibition, 1939; National Prize for Sculpture, 1945; State Prize,...
, Ion Jalea
Ion Jalea
-External links:*...
and 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...
, he founded the Art of Romania association in their Iaşi refuge. In 1926, Dimitrescu, with 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 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:...
, established Grupul celor patru ("The Group of Four").
He became a teacher at the Iaşi 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 (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...
in which the background was stripped of details and usually of a dominant white.
He died in Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
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 artByzantine art
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
and the work of Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne 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 different world of art in the 20th century. Cézanne can be said to form the bridge between late 19th...
.
Part of his art (between 1926 and 1933) was inspired by his travels to Dobruja
Dobruja
Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...
, and have been considered to be the most accomplished synthesis between his craft as a draftsman and his art as a painter.
Many of his works are exhibited in Bârlad
Bârlad
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....
(at the Vasile Pârvan
Vasile Pârvan
Vasile Pârvan was a Romanian historian and archaeologist.He studied history in Bucharest, with Nicolae Iorga as one of his professors. He continued his studies in Germany. His Ph.D. thesis, written in 1909, was titled The nationality of merchants in the Roman Empire...
Museum), 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....
(the National Museum of Art of Romania
National Museum of Art of Romania
The National Museum of Art of Romania is located in the former royal palace in Revolution Square, central Bucharest, Romania, completed in 1937...
and the Zambaccian Museum
Zambaccian Museum
The Zambaccian Museum in Bucharest, Romania is a museum in the former home of Krikor Zambaccian , an Armenian businessman and art collector. The museum was founded in 1947, closed by the Ceauşescu regime in 1977, and re-opened in 1992. It is now a branch of The National Museum of Art of Romania...
), Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca
Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the fourth most populous city in Romania and the seat of Cluj County in the northwestern part of the country. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest , Budapest and Belgrade...
(Cluj Art Museum
Banffy Palace
Bánffy Castle is a baroque building of the 18th century in Cluj-Napoca, designed by the German architect Johann Eberhard Blaumann. Built between 1774 and 1775 it is considered the most representative for the baroque style of Transylvania...
) and in private collections outside Romania (in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
).