Mathieu Rosianu
Man with coin, ca. 1930, pencil on paper
circa 1930

Name: Man with coin, ca. 1930, pencil on paper
Brand: Mathieu Rosianu
Price: 600.07 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Mathieu (Matei) ROSIANU (1897-1969) Man with coin Pencil on paper Workshop stamp on reverse 8 x 5,5 inch Born in Bucharest in 1897 to an officer in the Romanian National Guard and a mother of French origin, Mathieu Rosianu grew up in a middle-class environment. He obtained his first drawing diploma in 1912. He left Romania in 1918 and moved to Paris, where he continued his artistic training at the Arts Décoratifs before being admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts in 1920 in the studio of Ernest Laurent (1859-1929). In 1923, he exhibited his first paintings at the Salon d'Automne, the Salon des Tuileries and the Salon de la Société nationale des beaux-arts. At the dawn of the 1930s, Mathieu Rosianu worked as a draughtsman for Bitschenauer and Schweitzer before setting up his own fabric design company. He produced numerous designs for major French and American textile companies. Politically committed, he frequented artists close to the libertarian communist movement, such as Jean Hélion, with whom he became friends. In 1931, he took part in meetings of the Union des artistes professionnels du Groupe Artistique, a group of artists who supported the magazine Monde, a weekly founded by Henri Barbusse. In 1932, Mathieu Rosianu was one of the founding members of the Association des Écrivains et Artistes Révolutionnaires (A.E.A.R.), which was set up that same year and brought together such committed artists as Jean Lurçat, Jean Hélion, Auguste Herbin and Édouard Pignon. He contributed to the A.E.A.R. magazine Commune, for which he produced several graphic compositions with his wife Juliette Bajou. Very involved, he was a member of the collective's initiative committee and played an active part in organising the first Exposition des Artistes Révolutionnaires, which took place in 1934 and was attended by a dozen artists including Francis Jourdain, Amédée Ozenfant and Auguste Herbin. Mathieu Rosianu wrote the preface to the catalogue, like a manifesto. That same year, his works were exhibited alongside those of renowned Surrealist artists Salvador Dali and Man Ray at the Avertissement exhibition at Marie Cuttoli's Galerie Vignon in Paris, in reaction to the Nazis' attitude towards so-called "degenerate" art. In 1935, Mathieu Rosianu distanced himself from the A.E.A.R. and devoted himself to producing decorative silk and wallpaper projects under the pseudonym Émile Arbor. His creations met with great success at the Exposition Universelle in 1937, where he was awarded a Grand Prix, before the Second World War put an end to this activity. Faithful to figurative art, Mathieu Rosianu was keen to reconnect with the reality so dear to the artists of the inter-war period. He strove to exalt the dignity of the working classes, and his work was largely in line with the movement of artists raising the social role of art. In opposition to so-called "easel painting", he advocated "painting for all "*, "painting charged with human emotion "* and not "pretext painting "*. The trauma of the terrible disasters of the two wars and the suffering that took hold of him inspired the artist to produce darker work. His psychological suffering found expression in his painting, which remained a vital necessity for him. He developed a definite obsession with themes relating to the obsession with death, the anguish of deconstruction and the mourning of the child.

Creator:

Mathieu Rosianu (1897 - 1969, French, Romanian)

Creation Year:

circa 1930

Dimensions:

Height: 7.88 in (20 cm)Width: 5.71 in (14.5 cm)

Medium:

Pencil

Movement & Style:

Surrealist

Period:

1930-1939