(Pitaru 1838–1907 Câmpina)
The spinner, signed Grigorescu,
oil on canvas, 51 x 42 cm, framed, (GG)

Provenance:
European Private Collection since the end of the 19th century.

Illustrated in:
Ilustratiunea Nationala, Bucharest, January 1914.

Nicolae Grigorescu is considered the leading figure of Modern Art in Romania. In a palette of intense light, he painted everyday scenes of his country such as its people, flocks of sheep and the countryside. His pictures formed a personal and modern vision, the expression of Romanian national identity.

In 1861 he was awarded a grant to study at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris to complete his training. There, he met the future renowned French artist, Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It was an exciting period of opportunity and development for emerging artists such as Grigorescu. The move to Paris was a common trend for the artists eager to learn the new techniques and developments.

He then left Paris to join the plein air Barbizon School at Fontainebleau, where he was deeply influenced by artists such as Jean-François Millet, Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet and Théodore Rousseau — especially Millet and his dark scenes of peasants working the land. It also shows remarkable similarities to the plein air studies of the Macchiaioli.

He exhibited for the first time at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1867, which was also the first event of this kind for the new Romanian state. There, he presented seven of his modern studies of nature; mainly figures in a landscape.
The following year, he exhibited for the first time at the Paris Salon, presided by Daubigny.

In 1869 he returned to Bucharest and soon after joined the forefront of contemporary Romanian artists’ groups.
In 1877 he became a war artist during the Romanian War of Independence.
In 1879 he returned to his Paris studio, where his style became more Impressionist.
He exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889.

As of 1890, he settled in the sub-Carpathian region of Prahova in Câmpina, whose rolling landscape would have a deep resonance in his art. He interprets rustic themes in an idyllic way: his landscapes are always serene; oxen, carts and country roads became central in his mature period. His main concern was the light and its different effects depending on the time of the day.

His figures, especially the woman, have elongated outlines and strike studied poses, such as in the present lot. It is, indeed, a remarkable example of his creative impulse that has earned Grigorescu his place among the most innovative and influential Romanian painters. The sense of spontaneity that saturates the canvas suggests it was conceived through first-hand observation. He used patches of colour in the background.

In the rapid evolution of modern Romanian painting, Grigorescu is an exceptional figure, a painter ahead of his time, who paved the way for subsequent generations of Romanian artists.