Natalia Dumitresco
Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest in 1939, the same year she marries the painter Alexandre Istrati. In 1955 she wins the Kandinsky Prize, in 1957 the "Des Amateurs d'Art" Prize, in 1959 the Carnegie Prize on the occasion of the International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburg. She also holds several solo exhibitions in Bucharest, Paris, Brussels, Liège, New York, Cologne, London, Milan, Copenhagen, Mannheim, Tokyo, etc.
Graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest in 1939, the same year she marries the painter Alexandre Istrati. His first exhibitions take place at the group exhibitions of the Institutional Exhibition in Bucharest; In 1947 the couple move to Paris. In the French capital, both work closely with Brancusi until his death in 1957. In 1948 she makes a trip to Holland and Italy and five years later to Spain. In 1969 Natalia Dumitresco illustrates the text of Brancusi Histoire de Brigands and in 1977 together with Istrati , she organises the reconstruction of her Atelier at the Beaubourg in Paris. She participates then, in numerous group exhibitions in France and abroad, but above all in the French capital: at the Salon des Realités Nouvelles, des Grandes et Jeunes d'Aujourd'hui, de Mai, etc.
In 1955 she wins the Kandinsky Prize, in 1957 the "Des Amateurs d'Art" Prize, in 1959 the Carnegie Prize on the occasion of the International Exhibition of Contemporary Painting at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburg. She also holds several solo exhibitions in Bucharest, Paris, Brussels, Liège, New York, Cologne, London, Milan, Copenhagen, Mannheim, Tokyo, etc.
The first period of activity is strongly influenced by the constructivist influence where, her painting based on geometric elements: squares, rectangles, Circles, is soon flanked by its own plastic language characterized by the harmonious balance between rigorous construction and charm of a very personal poetic expression, made of tenderness sometimes cultured with humorous vein. Her canvases are based on a graphic network of horizontal and vertical lines that intersect with each other to determine small colored quadrilateral; these form a kind of complex space that evokes the structures of the urban landscape.
This type of pictorial construction is similar to the contemporary one of Viera da Silva. The palette, initially sober and limited to black and white, progressively rejoices to reach, towards the seventies, in a multicoloured chromatism where red is predominant and in which a festive atmosphere is deeply felt. Although Natalia Dumitresco's painting is based on Abstract Expressionism, she has been able to preserve, in her works, many references to the decorative motifs of folk art, characteristic of traditional clothing fabrics and carpets from her native country.
From April to August 2006 her works are requested by the Musée de Luxembourg in Paris on the occasion of the exhibition "L’envolée lyrique", the first detailed and complete exhibition on the theme of lyrical abstraction. The event has been accompanied by the publication of an exhaustive catalogue illustrating over a hundred works.
Main museums:
Antibes, (Musée Picasso)
Parigi, (Musée National d’Art Moderne)
Dunkerque, (Musée d’Art Contemporain), Francia
Mannheim, (Kunsthalle), Germania
Basilea, (Kunstmuseum), Svizzera
Bibliography:
Raymon Nacenta, La Scuola di Parigi, Istituto Geografico de Agostini, Novara, 1960; L. Harambourg, L’Ecole de Paris, 1945-1965, Neuchatel, Ides & Calendes, 1993.
