Untitled
Anna Bella Papp has worked with clay to create a very flat rectangular work in the manner of an easel painting, an analogy reinforced by the small format. Untitled (2016) is a tightly framed portrait of a man that stands out from the background with a slight relief. The work’s clean, realistic style refers to the Italian artist Desiderio da Settignano, whose soft, idealised portraits immortalised Renaissance notables in white marble. The artist was also inspired by socialist realism, an artistic doctrine followed in the countries of the USSR, to which Romania belonged. The character is a communist proletarian figure. In her daily life in the Netherlands, Anna Bella Papp often meets Romanian immigrants working as labourers. She depicts them face on, in a noble and proud attitude, to draw our attention to the living conditions of Eastern European immigrants.
Text written by Justine Grethen as part of the partnership between the École du Louvre and Lafayette Anticipations – Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin.