Constanta Art Museum

Nicolae Grigorescu, Flori de nalbă, ulei pe carton, 300 x 170

„Woman with Umbrella”

Gheorghe PETRAȘCU (1872–1949)

The painting suggests an idyllic and quiet dimension, which highlights the close relationship between the human being and nature, an aspect often encountered in the artistic creation of Gheorghe Petrașcu. The woman, who occupies the center of the composition, is a non-individualized face, located in a garden. She is dressed in a white dress and wears a yellow hat on her head, adorned with a few pink and red flowers. She wears a black umbrella, which may suggest the time of day, the afternoon, when the sun is burning, which is also well marked in the upper register, where the sky is painted in a variety of vibrant shades of blue. The lower register of the work is represented by the vegetation of the garden, painted in shades of green, purple, yellow, red, blue and brown. The two registers are united by the presence of the woman, which denotes the balance of the composition, supported by the warm-cold contrast, which creates a close connection between woman and nature, the woman seems to be born from the middle of the landscape. The tonal contrasts that are observed on the surface of the woman’s face, but also of her dress, create volumes that give her the impression of three-dimensionality.