NICOLAE TONITZA, THE PAINTER FROM TURTUCAIA

The participation in the operations of the First World War exploits of Romanian soldiers on the battlefield and sacrifice the entire Romanian people for the Great Union from December 1th , 1918 represented, as in the case of the Independence War, a strong inspiration for the artists of that age. One of the most sensitive Romanian artists at the horrors and crimes’ war was Nicolae Tonitza. The artist sensitivity to human problems had felt since the time of the Uprising from 1907, when he bemoaning the living martyr of the peasant, condemning those who exploit him. Answering to the recruitment’s order, Tonitza went to the Infantry Regiment 84 and between 20th and 25th August 1916 he took part in the battles that led to the final destruction of his regiment, the artist was taken prisoner and led, together with his comrades in camp from Turtucaia. Located in captivity, the painter Tonitza expresses his feelings to the facts and things that surrounded him through his sketchbook, using as inspiration grounds surrounding nature, fellow-sufferers, or scenes of camp.