LOT DETAILS

Materials:

oil on Belgian linen

Measurements:

72.44 in. (184.00 cm.) (height) by 60.04 in. (152.50 cm.) (width)

Markings:

signed, titled and dated verso: Aida Tomescu ALBASTRU VI 2000

Literature:

Aida Tomescu, New Paintings and Etchings, Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney, 15 November - 17 December 2000 Aida Tomescu became a forceful presence in the Australian art scene in the 1990’s after arriving in Sydney as an escapee from Ceaucescu’s Romania. In 1999, Tomescu’s popularity continued to grow as she joined Martin Browne Fine Art in Sydney and Niagara Galleries in Melbourne. During this productive period she won the inaugural Lowenstein Sharp Fellowship at Heide Park in 1996, and in the same year, the Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery New South Wales. More recently, she has won awards including the Wynne Prize for Landscape in 2001 and the Dobell Drawing Prize in 2003. At first glance, her painting generally and specifically Albastru VI, 2000 oil on Belgian linen, seem almost monochromatic. On closer inspection, the pale blue surface reveals holes and scars that puncture the painterly and gritty surface. The texture of her work is a result of the numerous times she applies the oils, removing portions and then re painting with a slightly different intention. She works wet into wet while preserving the sensitive underlying colours. Tomescu says of her technique that she paints until she “can no longer argue with it.”[1] We are privy to a private and visceral part of the artist’s life that seems to be worked into every brush stroke of her paintings. Tomescu truly believes that she does not “see a painting as art… painting is better than art. Panting is much more than art….painting is life.”[2] [1] Art Collector, Aida Tomescu: Undeniable Presence, Issue 36, April – June, 2006 [2] Art Collector, Aida Tomescu: Undeniable Presence, Issue 36, April – June, 2006

Provenance:

Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney 2000