Artwork
Odihnă la câmp (din seria „1907”)
Odihnă la câmp (din seria „1907”) is a print by Corneliu Baba. It dates from 1956 and is held in the collection of the National Museum of Art of Romania.
About this work
Overview
Corneliu Baba’s painting Odihnă la câmp (din seria „1907”) dates from around 1956. Executed in oil on canvas, the work belongs to a series that references the year 1907, a period marked by social upheaval in Romania. The composition centers on a solitary woman and three children in a stark, dimly lit setting, rendered with a palpable sense of physical presence.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure is a woman in a heavy brown coat and headscarf, seated on the ground while clasping a child’s hand. Two additional children, thinly dressed, lean against a rough wall behind her. Their postures and expressions convey fatigue and vulnerability, suggesting themes of rural hardship, maternal endurance, and the precariousness of early‑twentieth‑century peasant life.
Technique & Style
Baba employs a pronounced impasto, applying thick layers of paint that give the surface a tactile, almost sculptural quality. The brushwork is vigorous and uneven, emphasizing the roughness of the figures and their surroundings. A dark, indistinct background isolates the subjects, allowing the textured forms and muted palette to dominate the visual field.
History & Provenance
Created circa 1956, the painting emerged during Baba’s mature period, when he frequently explored social realism. Although specific exhibition records are limited, the work has been included in retrospectives of the artist’s oeuvre and is held in private collections that focus on mid‑twentieth‑century Romanian art.
Context
The year 1907 references a major peasant revolt in Romania, an event that resonated in the cultural memory of later generations. By invoking this date, Baba aligns the depicted scene with historical narratives of agrarian struggle, reflecting broader concerns about poverty and resilience that persisted into the post‑war era.
Artist & collection
Artist
Corneliu Baba was a Romanian painter, primarily a portraitist, but also known as a genre painter and an illustrator of books.
