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Paula CraioveanuSUMMER - female nude - by Paula Craioveanu - original sepia drawing2018
2018
$600
£455.59
€521.01
CA$838.29
A$932.36
CHF 486.85
MX$11,345.81
NOK 6,217.80
SEK 5,831.20
DKK 3,888.47
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SUMMER - female nude - by Paula Craioveanu - original sepia drawing. Sepia ink drawing on watercolor paper inspired by Matisse's nudes. Original, unique, not a series. Size 30x22in / 76x55cm Shipped rolled in a tube. Shipping anywhere in the world. Framed picture for display only. Free shipping with 1stDibs code FREESHIP for items over $500.
"Summer", a beautifully minimal yet expressive work that captures the warmth and simplicity of the human form in a seated pose. The use of pencil and sepia ink on watercolor paper lends it a delicate and timeless quality, reminiscent of classical studies of the nude figure while maintaining a modern, fluid aesthetic.
The sepia ink creates a warm, earthy tone that feels evocative of summer—its heat, light, and natural hues. Sepia has a nostalgic quality, connecting the work to classical drawings while maintaining an intimate and approachable mood.The use of pencil adds subtle structure to the composition, giving it a foundational strength. However, the ink takes center stage, flowing freely and naturally, suggesting a confident, spontaneous approach by the artist.The watercolor paper's texture enhances the organic feeling of the work, subtly interacting with the ink's fluidity and the pencil's softness.
The lines are elegant and fluid, suggesting the form of the body without rigidly defining it. This approach prioritizes movement and gesture over anatomical precision, conveying a sense of life and presence in the figure. The interplay between positive space (the ink lines) and negative space (the untouched paper) is masterful. The decision to leave the face and other areas unrendered invites the viewer to focus on the flowing contours of the body. This abstraction imbues the figure with universality, making it less about identity and more about form, mood, and emotion.
The seated pose feels natural and introspective, as if the figure is caught in a moment of quiet thought or rest. The angled lines of the arms and legs create a triangular composition that is both balanced and dynamic, drawing the viewer’s eye in a circular motion around the body. The downward tilt of the head, while left undefined, suggests a relaxed, contemplative mood. The choice to omit details from the face emphasizes the body’s expressive posture instead of emotional facial expression.
The title, Summer, reflects the mood of the piece: warm, serene, and unhurried. The minimalist approach aligns with the simplicity of summer itself—an easy, light-filled time of reflection and presence. The sepia tones evoke the feeling of sunlight warming the skin, connecting the viewer to the sensuality of the human form in its natural state.
This piece fits within the lineage of classical figure drawing, evoking the studies of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres or Gustav Klimt, where the focus is on elegant line work and the essence of the human form. The gestural quality and the interplay of suggestion and omission are reminiscent of modernist drawing approaches, such as those of Henri Matisse or Egon Schiele, where simplicity and expressiveness take precedence over detail.
The limited palette and use of just pencil and ink make the work feel clean and focused, relying on the strength of the artist’s line to convey everything needed. By omitting facial details and specific environmental cues, the figure becomes an archetype, inviting viewers to project their own emotions and interpretations onto the piece. The confident, flowing lines show a deep understanding of human anatomy and movement, emphasizing the figure’s grace and natural beauty.
Summer is a poetic and understated piece that achieves a great deal with its simplicity. It feels timeless, both rooted in the classical tradition and modern in its abstraction and gesture. The warmth of the sepia ink and the economy of lines make this work particularly evocative, capturing the essence of summer with grace and elegance. It’s a piece that leaves room for the imagination, inviting the viewer to linger in its warmth and quiet beauty.
Biography:
Paula Craioveanu is a Romanian artist, born in 1976. She grew up surrounded by art and inspiration, in a family of artists. Trained in Bucharest and New York as an architect and painter. Holds a degree in Architecture and a PhD in Visual Arts. Presently working as a full-time artist.
At the age of 16, Paula Craioveanu moved to New York, where she came in contact with New York’s vibrant art scene, she graduated from high school and then studied at Parsons School of Design. Then she moved back to Romania where she studied for the next 6 years at the Architecture University in Bucharest and graduated with a degree in Architecture in 2000. In 2013 she earned a Ph.D in Visual Arts at the University of Arts in Bucharest with the theme “Geometry of Space in 17th century Dutch painting”. After this, she dedicated her full time to art, and showed her talent to the art world.
Paula Craioveanu works in acrylic and oil paints, but also pen and ink or tempera works on paper. She regularly participates in shows and exhibitions in galleries along the East and West Coast of the United States, like bG Gallery Santa Monica, Dacia Gallery and Perseus Gallery in New York.
Paula Craioveanu’s work is featured on the two most exclusive online art marketplaces, 1stDibs and Artsy.
Over the course of 20 years, Paula Craioveanu has created several painting series: “Abstract”, “Interiors”, “Nude in Interior”, “NeoMythology”. Paula Craioveanu’s work has been placed in private collection around the world, both in Europe and in the United States.
Today, Paula Craioveanu has set up studios and works in Bucharest and New York.
Find original Paula Craioveanu paintings, works on paper and other art on 1stDibs.
Next: Works on display - December 2024, Context Art Miami.
Artist Statement
"I started by painting interiors, being interested in space and perspective through my studies. These scenes evolved, when I added the human figure. I focused more on the human figure and its relation to the background. The human figure is more present than ever in my paintings now.
As a woman artist I’ve been preoccupied with the female form and its imagery. One of my goals was to capture the solitary moments and the nude’s relation to the surrounding space.
My interest turned from depicting the space to rendering the atmosphere and the scene as a whole, the feeling a woman adds to the environment: warmth, desire, joy, a feeling of power and control, or the opposite – sadness, despair.
Here is a collection of figurative paintings, exploring the nudes in interior spaces, seeing the nudes from my perspective, as a woman artist, considering the physical and spiritual realities of a woman’s body, in a new level of intimacy. My paintings are the opposite of objectifying a woman’s or a man’s anatomy. Painted works, featuring female nudes and a also men nudes, in a reversal of the male-artist/female-muse pattern, validate the feminine experience, defining myself through it.
I was interested in how one experiences the body in a sensual form, and later focused on my own body, as I experience it myself, looking into the mirror and reconnecting.
My work challenges the tradition of the nude by capturing my point of view, the gaze of a female painter, by using photography, drawings, sketches, and painting on canvas, for, both physical and psychological exploration.
My art tries to create a visual language for emotion, beauty, feelings of intimacy and in the same time autonomy, captured with paint and vivid colors. My intense interest in color and the gestures of the brush strokes are the means I see and convey the subjects in space, as living, passionate beings."
Paula Craioveanu
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- Creator:Paula Craioveanu (1976, Romanian)
- Creation Year:2018
- Dimensions:Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 22 in (55.88 cm)Depth: 0.1 in (2.54 mm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Forest Hills, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: Romanian-American artist. PhD in Visual Arts.1stDibs: LU2240211656642
Paula Craioveanu
Trained in Bucharest and New York as architect and painter. Holds a degree in Architecture and a PhD in Visual Arts. Presently working as a full-time artist.
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