Mathieu Rosianu
Untitled
1949

Name: Untitled
Brand: Mathieu Rosianu
Price: 3000 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Mathieu Rosianu, a painter with a humanist backbone, wanted to give Art the power of a fighting weapon and bring it to the people. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the years before the advent of the Popular Front in France in 1936 are among the most active of his life. Born in 1897 in Bucharest, Mathei (Mathieu) Rosianu, the son of an officer in the National Guard, settled in Paris in 1918. He studied at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts and at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs under the tutelage of Ernest Laurent until 1924. More than his academic training however, the example of C̩ezanne seemed to have been decisive for him. Indeed, we find in Rosianu's early works the affirmation of volumes, a strong taste for stable forms and the choice of powerfully illuminated motifs reminiscent of the compositions of the famous pre-cubist master. Rosianu's favorite subject matters: bathers, humble still-lives, were also those of Cezanne, Picasso and Braque. Rosianu then shared with many young artists of the postwar period, the need to reinvest the reality from which the most extreme tendencies of the avant-garde Art moved away. Another defining influence for Rosianu is Roger Bissi̬ere, who was presented at the time by critics as his professor/mentor. The qualities of stability and understatement of Bissi̬ere's Art, inherited from Cubism and sensitive to the charm of a discrete and reassuring everyday life, will confirm Rosianu's own choice to express the values of the world. He settled in a studio rented by Bissi̬ere and exhibited at the Salon of the Soci̩et̩e Nationale des Beaux Arts, the Salon des Tuileries and the Salon d'Automne until the 30's. It is from 1926 that Rosianu appears as one of the few equivalents of a proletarian literature for the art of painting that commits to depict the dignity of the working classes beyond their condition. This is evidenced by Rosianu's paintings of men at work or sharing moments of family life. The years 1929-1930 marked the start of his political commitment to the Communist Party, where he met artists like Jean H̩elion. The heated debates led by the party on the social role of Art will gradually drive him to join the A.E.A.R. (Association of the Revolutionary Artists and Writers) alongside with Jean Lur̤cat and Edouard Pignon. He then bent his way again to go for a style combining a form of purism (sometimes tinged with fantasy) with the lyricism of themes calling for social revolution. Rosianu's diversified his incisive interventions by designing covers for books, magazines, but also posters and wall decoration projects. Most importantly, he managed in 1934 to unite the artists of the A.E.A.R. for the Exhibition of the Revolutionary Artists gathering around the famous painter Fernand L̩eger, the sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, the poet Louis Aragon and the novelist Andr̩e Malraux, the strongest supporters of political Art. Rosianu wrote himself the preface of this major exhibition catalog proclaiming that "a revolutionary ideology cannot communicate with outdated means of expression". Soon after, he renewed the experience with the Exhibition “Warning” in support to the incarcerated antifascists and that Rosianu organized at the Galerie Vignon in Paris where his work was presented alongside with the most renowned Surrealistic masters (Jean Arp, Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, Victor Brauner, Giacometti, Tanguy…) First propelled to the frontline, the artist abruptly decided in 1935 to withdraw from his political engagement to concentrate on the foundation of a paper and fabric design studio under the pseudonym of Emile Arbor. It was under this name that he will be awarded with a Grand Prix for his participation at the 1937 World's Fair in Paris. World War II unfortunately wiped out the renown that Rosianu earned in the 30's. Drafted into the army, he came back traumatized. Entrenched in a self-denied isolation, Rosianu nevertheless kept creating color-rich works as an antidote to his existential loneliness. The production of this artist, very appreciated in the 30's, is being recently rediscovered and actively sought after by collectors of cubist art. Most of it comes directly from the artist's studio itself. As a matter of fact, Rosianu, being the populist artist that he was, did not believe in having a commercial career and distrusted controlling gallery owners and sponsors. 34x40 cm. + frame 52x60 cm.

Creator:

Mathieu Rosianu (1897 - 1969, French, Romanian)

Creation Year:

1949

Dimensions:

Height: 20.48 in (52 cm)Width: 23.63 in (60 cm)

Medium:

Acrylic

Movement & Style:

Abstract

Period:

20th Century