Nicolae Jon Grigorescu

(Pitaru 1838–1907 Câmpina)
Oxen Pulling a Cart with the Wheat Harvest, signed Grigorescu, oil on canvas, 13.5 x 24.5 cm, framed
Provenance:
European Private Collection.

Nicolae Grigorescu, one of the founders of modern Romanian painting, studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and in the studios of the academicist historical painters Sébastien Cornu and Charles Gleyre. He then joined the group of painters working in the village of Barbizon near Fontainebleau embracing en plein air painting. Artists such as Corot, Millet and Daubigny influenced him deeply. This closeness to nature offered him new means of expression.

His paintings depict the activities of peasants in their fields and in their environment. He devoted his work to the pastoral scenes and rural landscapes which constitute his main motifs. Leading an ox cart, as depicted in the present work, was characteristic of Romanian rural life at that time and one of the artist’s favourite subjects.

In 1867 he exhibited seven paintings at the Paris World Fair and from 1868 on he participated in the yearly Salon.