Woman in the Wood

There is melancholy and poetry in Ion Andreescu’s landscapes. Impressed by Grigorescu, he used his creation as a model but managed to elaborate an original style. He lived, he felt, he understood and he depicted nature in a different manner. There is a perfect combination of sensitiveness and will which is a synthesis of his profound feelings. Andreescu relishes the beauties of nature and he makes the onlooker feel part of it. In the painting Woman in the Wood the forest is a cathedral, monumental, solemn, solitary, while the human presence is unwonted. The feeling of majesty is enhanced by the deep perspective with rows of trees on either side. Hues of green and brown unite the chromatic, come together in harmony and suggest a deep tranquillity. The enigmatic character in the foreground, a woman, is essential for the composition; she is the link between the onlooker and the landscape; she appears to ignore the onlooker, but, in fact, she invites him to admire the landscape, to move deeper inside the mysterious space of the forest. The chromatic contrast between the background and human presence brings an element of modernity in the construction of the image.