Stefan Luchian

Peisaj de la Moinest

The Well on Clucerului Street

"His study life began at the Fine Arts School in Bucharest (1885-1889), to continue for one year in Munich at the Academy of Fine Arts, and to get its accomplishment in Paris at the Julian Academy (1891-1892). In the country, he was among the artists who in 1896 took part in the organization of the "Non-affiliated Artists' Exhibition". Two years later, he was one of the founders of the "Ileana" Artistic Society. After he had participated in 1892 in the "Artistic Youth Exhibition", his reputation as a painter was well-established. At the dawn of the 20th century, Luchian was the Romanian painter with the most remarkable creation. He had inspiredly followed Grigorescu's and Andreescu's art , his two famous predecessors and fathers of the Romanian painting . After a serene childhood , blessed with the natural beauties of the vineyards overshadowing the Prut river banks and of the river meadows, his existence took a dramatical course in that he had to make passionate and painful efforts for his artistic fame, given his temperament of either excitement or despondency and the tragedy of a suffering leading to a premature death. His art is full of life and pathetical joy for everyday waking in the clear daylight. With him light intensity makes the solidity of forms, in an impressionistic touch. His preference for a solid form, where senses associate reason, is visible in both the elements of the composition and the selection of colours. The secret of keeping the picture balance, which he possesses, makes the painter avoid an image dispersion and realise a good capturing of the real scenes. A series of motifs- bunches of flowers or prints with vegetal models on, etc.-, certain pictorial intuitions , say, a subtle intertwining of curves and countercurves, remind the viewers of the artist's apprentice years and his congeniality with the Art Nouveau style (see Stilul 1900 the 1900 Style). He perfectly knows how to integrate such motifs in the whole, letting the picture absorb the flow of his sensibility. A remarkably clear composition will result and a rare emotion will be shared. He painted landscapes and portraits as much as he painted compositions and still life, especially flowers. His landscapes equally show the interest in picturesque sights of nature for once and in the symbiosis between abundant vegetation and human appearances for another."

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