Constanta Art Museum

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

„Flowers”

Ștefan POPESCU (1872 – 1948)

The painting shows a bouquet of autumn flowers, gathered in an explosion of light and sun color, on a background of gray-blue and green, which highlights their brilliance. Although it is a typical still life composition, the short brushstrokes in different directions and the contrasts between the yellow and orange corollas and the green shades of the leaves and stems, which come in a complete palette, from raw green to emerald and olive shades , gives dynamism and poetry to the painting, transmitting a certain peace of mind and joy of life. The unity of the composition is also given by some shades of navy blue, barely figured, which make the connection between the background of the painting and the vase in which the flowers are placed. The expressiveness and delicacy of the bouquet are remarkable. The horizontal, represented by the table on which the vase of flowers is placed and the vertical, represented by the frame of a painting, which is outlined in the shadow in the upper right corner of the painting, are well delimited and frame the subject of the composition: the bouquet of flowers, which flows naturally and fully to the eye of the beholder, as a victory of life over the monotony of inanimate objects. The composition is distinguished by the rigor of the rendering of the subject and the sensitivity of the perception.