Constanta Art Museum

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

„The Cook”

Ștefan DIMITRESCU (1886–1933)

Ștefan Dimitrescu showed a special interest in Romanian folk art, not absent from the main hero of his paintings, namely the Romanian peasant. In many of his rural paintings, the artist portrays the peasants in their universe, captured in specific poses of their daily lives. The painting depicts a woman, probably middle-aged, with a gentle face, dressed in traditional Romanian clothes. The title of the painting, “The Cook”, indicates that the woman is caught while preparing food. In the upper right corner there are some objects that suggest that she is in the kitchen. She probably has the pots over the fire and is waiting for the food to be ready, which is suggested by the way she is represented. The position of the body, but also the expressiveness of the face, the woman holds her hands crossed and stares blankly, expressing the fact that she is waiting. The woman’s face and hands are painted in shades of brown to make her skin look tanned, which is caused by the work that the peasants do in the field, in the sun. Regarding the expressiveness of the face, the artist highlights, in a perfect way, the essence of the spirit of the Romanian peasant that emanates humility, wisdom, gentleness and a special hieraticism.