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Paula Craioveanu
Lady with Books #3 - Surreal painting by Paula Craioveanu Framed

2024

About the Item

"Lady with Books 3" 39x23in / 100x60cm Shipped as it is, stretched, framed. Size framed 41.5x25.7in Free shipping with 1stDibs code Lady with Books 3 and Lady with Books 1 - these 2 paintings are a symbolic representation tied to concepts such as knowledge, education, composure, or societal expectations. The books on their heads symbolize intellectual pursuits and the weight of knowledge, a balance between the internal self and external expectations of intellectual capability. This positioning—on their heads—points to the idea that intellectualism and education are an integral and foundational part of identity. In historical contexts, balancing books on one’s head was often associated with teaching poise and posture. Women are metaphorically balancing societal demands or personal aspirations, alluding to a conflict between intellectual and physical grace. The books symbolize the burdens and expectations placed on women in terms of intellectual achievement, societal roles, or cultural standards of beauty. The way they sit serenely, despite the weight, may suggest resilience and a critique of these pressures. By combining a traditionally utilitarian object (books) with an abstract placement (on the head), the paintings create a unique juxtaposition that invites the viewer to ponder deeper meanings in a surrealist twist. In Lady with Books #1, the woman sits confidently in a vivid pink gown, emphasizing traditional beauty but paired with the intellectual symbol of books. The swirling floral wallpaper alludes to a blending of femininity and intellect. In Lady with Books #3, the figure is nude and more vulnerable, a contrast between the weight of intellect (the books) with raw, instinctual humanity. The combination of vibrant colors, loose brushstrokes, and surreal elements suggests influences from modern expressionism and post-impressionism, which often delve into symbolic or emotional themes. The theme of “balancing” intellectual and societal expectations, particularly for women, is a critiques to gender norms. The symbolism of the books, then, is layered and rich. It invites viewers to think about how education, culture, or societal expectations are intertwined with identity, especially for women 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 colour and the gestures of the brush strokes are the means I see and convey the subjects in space, as living, passionate beings." Paula Craioveanu 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.
  • Creator:
    Paula Craioveanu (1976, Romanian)
  • Creation Year:
    2024
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 39 in (99.06 cm)Width: 23 in (58.42 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Forest Hills, NY
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: Romanian-American artist. PhD in Visual Arts.1stDibs: LU2240215274302

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