Ștefan Dimitrescu

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Ștefan Dimitrescu was a Romanian painter interested in Byzantine art and Romanian folklore, being at the same time influenced by the geometries of French painters such as Paul Cézanne and André Derain. A founder of the Group of Four, alongside Nicolae Tonitza, Francisc Șirato, and Oscar Han, he often exhibited together with them. Thematically, his paintings often depict the quotidian lives of villagers, miners, and of a then emerging middle and intellectual class. The social critique that the works carry with them is reflected in his balanced choice of colours and robust contours. After World War I, marked by the tragedies of the conflict, Dimitrescu used his paintings to explore the effects of war in people’s everyday lives. His compositions continued to change throughout his career, and later in his life he began to use darker tones as well as less detailed, mainly white backgrounds. The works of Ștefan Dimitrescu were exhibited locally and internationally, most notably at the Venice Biennial of 1923 and The Paris International Exhibition in 1925. His works are part of many private collections in Romania, Austria, Belgium, France and Germany.