Nicolae Tonitza

NICOLAE TONITZA (APRIL 13, 1886, BARLAD—FEBRUARY 27, 1940) WAS A ROMANIAN PAINTER, ENGRAVER, AND LITHOGRAPHER.

He left his home town in 1902 in order to attend the Iasi National School of Fine Arts, among his teachers being Gheorghe Popovici and Emanoil Bardasare. The following year he visited Italy together with University of Bucharest students of archaeology under the direction of Grigore Tocilescu. The next year, together with some of his fellow students, Tonitza painted the walls of Grozesti church.

In 1908 he left for Munich, where he joined the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He would spend the following three years in Paris, where he visited artists’ studios, and studied famous paintings. Although the young artist’s creation would initially conform to the prevalent style, his gift for colour and the “freshness” of his attitude would irreversibly lead him towards experiment.

Tonitza was largely inspired by Impressionism, but he equally admired the discoveries made by Post-impressionist artists, with their revolution in composition and Belle Époque splendor. His commitment to events of his time is best perceivable in his graphic work, malitious and sometimes dramatic (he sketched for many contemporary, usually political and leftist, magazines: Rampa, Flacara, Clopotul, Hiena, Socialismul, and in his articles, which mainly discussed cultural and social events.

Most of his works are serene in tones, in contrast with Tonitza’s involvement in social issues. They proposed a classical aesthetic ideal, viewing art as a treasurer of spiritual values. This message is most obvious in his Dobrogea landscapes, the portraits of clowns and children, the portraits of young women, and in still life studies.