Aaron Anderson
Specialist, Head of Sale
Lot 70
Nicolae Tonitza(Romanian, 1886-1940)A still life with pears 12 x 16in (30.5 x 40.8cm)
20 November 2019, 13:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$10,075 inc. premium
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Nicolae Tonitza (Romanian, 1886-1940)
A still life with pears
signed 'Tonitza' (lower right); inscribed '"Natura moarta" pictura in ulei/ pe panza autentic de Tonitza/ I. Al. Steriadi' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
12 x 16in (30.5 x 40.8cm)
signed 'Tonitza' (lower right); inscribed '"Natura moarta" pictura in ulei/ pe panza autentic de Tonitza/ I. Al. Steriadi' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
12 x 16in (30.5 x 40.8cm)
Footnotes
Provenance
Roy Melbourne, (political attaché to the American Embassy, Bucharest), circa 1946-48;
Thence by descent to the present owners.
A multi-faceted and prolific artist and art critic, Nicolae Tonitza was greatly inspired by the post-impressionist and expressionist art currents du jour. Well-traveled and educated in Munich and Paris, Tonitza infused new life into the Romanian art scene, that was still under the spell of Nicolae Grigorescu's art at the beginning of the 20th century.
His early works, dedicated to somber social commentary, gave way to the lighter style for which he became known for during the 1920s. Fatherhood contributed significantly to this change and to his prolific body of work depicting children. Still lives with flowers or fruit are equally significant in the later part of his life his and are rendered in a vibrant and vigorous palette.