Aurel Băeșu was a Romanian painter whose short yet prolific career secured him a place among the defining voices of early twentieth-century Romanian art. Born in Fălticeni, he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Iași under Gheorghe Popovici and Constantin Artachino, later continuing his training at the Higher Institute of Art in Rome. His debut at the Official Salon in 1915 was met with immediate acclaim and crowned with the prestigious Lecomte de Nöuy Prize, awarded by the Romanian Academy. Despite fragile health, worsened by tuberculosis contracted during his service in the First World War, he painted with remarkable intensity until his premature death in Piatra Neamț at the age of thirty-two.

Băeșu’s oeuvre reflects the influence of Nicolae Grigorescu and Ștefan Luchian, enriched by Impressionist and Post-Impressionist techniques, yet distinguished by his own lyrical sensibility. His landscapes evoke the Moldavian countryside through a delicate balance of light and atmosphere, while his portraits reveal acute psychological depth. Critics such as Gheorghe Macarie praised his exceptional talent for portraiture - a genre in which he introduced striking originality within a Romanian artistic context still relatively new to modern approaches.

The present work, depicting a woman in a relaxed pose with a cigarette, is especially significant. Such imagery introduced a new iconography into interwar Romanian art, where female figures were no longer contained by the traditional roles but instead came to embody modernity, independence, and subtle social critique. Through this composition, Băeșu aligned himself with contemporary European currents while preserving the intimacy and sincerity that define his style.

Today, his paintings remain highly regarded within both public and private collections in Romania and abroad, standing as a testament to an artist whose vision, though cut short by fate, contributed decisively to the renewal of Romanian modern painting.