Nicolae Tonitza

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Nicolae Tonitza was a pioneer of Romanian modern art, introducing through his unique vision the new European styles into Romanian art. After graduating from the School of Fine Arts in Iasi, he went to study in Munich where he exhibited for the first time in the presence of Adolph Menzel. He studied in Italy and France until he realised that the world he wanted to explore was his native country. Tonitza was an artist who worshipped colours, giving life to his works through the balance of forms attained from the use of brushstrokes and chromatics. He defined his own style through the predominance of warm and pastel colours, being a master of subtle transitions between tones. He aimed to harmonise verticals and horizontals, a technique that many artists were afraid to approach. As a result of merging the planes, his landscape gained an exceptional geometric harmony. The dynamics of the composition are always built with a confident brushwork, filled with “dry” consistency of colour. An expert in painting techniques and materials, Nicolae Tonitza played with light in all his landscapes. He broke the routine of large spots of colour, using almost no black, delimiting the spots with strong lines, planes and dramatic dark colours. “How I make a painting: very calm, if I work from my memory. Nature, on the other hand, gives me anxiety and migraines – even if I have only a harmless potato or a simple landscape in front of me. Too many details confuse and make me suffer. However, most of my paintings that I know by heart are based on a preliminary study after life – which I usually destroy. In any given situation, I start from the colour.” (Nicolae Tonitza “Writings about art’’, Ed. Meridiane, Bucharest, 1964)