Artwork
Filă de album: Întunecare
Filă de album: Întunecare is an unspecified painting by Carol Szathmari. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the Bucharest Municipality Museum.
About this work
Overview
Created around 1850 by Carol Szathmari, this work titled "Filă de album: Întunecare" is part of the collection of the Museum of Ethnography. It is an image that captures a stark, ambiguous landscape, rendered with a minimal palette and a sense of unfinished composition.
Subject & Meaning
The picture presents a bleak terrain dominated by a flat, gray sky occupying the upper half of the surface. Below, a jagged, dark line bisects the field, suggesting a river, a shadow, or an abstract boundary. The lack of recognizable forms invites contemplation of emptiness and the passage of light.
Technique & Style
Szathmari employs thick, uneven brushstrokes that give the surface a textured, sketch‑like quality. The application of paint is heavy and irregular, creating an impasto effect that emphasizes the materiality of the medium while leaving much of the composition seemingly incomplete.
History & Provenance
The piece dates to the mid‑19th century, a period when Szathmari was active as a painter and early photographer. It entered the Museum of Ethnography’s holdings at an unspecified date, where it remains part of the institution’s representation of early Romanian visual culture.
Artist & collection
Artist
Carol Szathmari made paintings and one sculpture in the mid-1800s, mostly portraits and scenes from everyday life.
