104 / 191
| 6
PostWar & Contemporary
3406
NATALIA DUMITRESCO(Romania 1915 - 1997 France)
Untitled. 1950.
Oil on canvas.
Dated on the reverse: MAI 50.
130 x 97 cm.
We thank Anna-Maria & Theodor Nicol for
their scientific advice.
Natalia Dumitresco was born in Bucha-
rest in 1915 and began her training at the
Kunstakademie with Franz Sirató in 1934,
which was completed in 1939. In the same
year she married the painter Alexandre
Istrati, and in 1947 they both received a
bursary from the French State and moved
to Paris. For some time she attended the
Académie André Lothe. The couple quickly
established a friendship with Constantin
Brâncuşi, also originally Rumanian, and
shared a studio directly next to his. When
Brancusi died in 1957, they were made his
heirs and therefore dedicated themselves
increasingly to the presentation of his
life’s work. As sole heirs, they bequeathed
Brâncuşi’s work to the French Nation and
planned a reconstruction of Brâncuşi’s
atelier in the Centre Pompidou, which
was inaugurated in 1977. They also wrote,
together with Pontus Hultén, a biography
of the artist which appeared in 1986. In the
meantime, Dumitresco and Istrati were
granted French citizenship in 1965.
From the 1950s, Dumitresco was in close
contact with the Paris avant-garde, which
was reflected in her work. Her works were
shown at international exhibitions in cities
throughout the world and in 1952 she
received the Espace group prize, in 1955
the Kandinsky Prize, in 1959 the Carnegie
Prize and in 1969 the 1st prize of the Salon
Internationale de la Femme. Natalia died
in Paris in July 1997 and was laid to rest
with her husband in a grave at Montpar-
nasse cemetery, which they shared with
Brâncuşi.
The present piece is a rare early work;
such pieces seldom appear on the art
market. The work, from 1950, is still very
two-dimensional and open, with sweeping
lines and large areas of colour. Her later
works are often large city views, with linear
structures and forms divided into small
sections. Yet even this early oil painting
shows a clear commitment to abstrac-
tion, and has a striking luminosity which is
typical of Dumitresco.
CHF 7 000 / 9 000
(€ 6 480 / 8 330)