Vincențiu Grigorescu - Butterflies

1968-1970

signed lower right

oil on canvas

130 x 100 cm

DETAILS

Vincențiu Grigorescu's artistic language is centered on the principle of proliferation and annihilation: in many of his chromatic works, a series of superimposed materials can be observed, where color has been used in such a way as to infiltrate the underlying layers to the deepest level, ultimately transforming into a series of easily perceptible and fragmented signs. Driven by the desire to free himself from the directives imposed by the communist party, he moved further and further away from figuration, in favor of abstraction and geometric expression. With his emigration to Italy in 1972, he began his assiduous search for his own expressiveness, beyond the two-dimensionality of the canvas. His attention turned to the various ways he could highlight the material of the painting: from the support on which he painted, to the paste and colors used. His creation became dependent on the material he worked with and the surface on which he laid the color. During that period, he also created the butterfly series, which enjoyed real success. With "Butterflies," he approached a theme with a figurative touch, sketching butterflies like mythical beings that pervade and dominate the pictorial space. The contrasting colors form an almost symbiotic play between the background and the figurative elements. The suggestion of light in which the figurative beings are bathed is paradoxically found in the rich chromatic range of black, which gives life to these dragon-butterflies. Their strength and construction remind me of the mythical character in the watercolor "The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun," created by the British artist William Blake. Like Blake's dragon, Vincențiu Grigorescu's butterflies create a nocturnal, gloomy, even apocalyptic atmosphere.

PROVENANCE

• Studio d'Arte Martini, Brescia, Italy.