Three generations of painters

About

There was a time in history, a more stable and uniform period than that in which we now live, when for many generations it was customary for sons to follow in the footsteps of their fathers and practice the same craft. From the Middle Ages to the Baroque Period this was extremely common, especially amongst the culturally dynamic and mixed population of Central Europe. Several families come to mind including Holbein, Bach, Dientzenhofer in Germany; Coninxloo and Brueghel in Flanders; Clouet, Couperin and Vernet in France; and Parler in Prague. Much stronger family traditions than those prevalent nowadays and an early education in the arts made it possible for knowledge to be transmitted from one generation to the next so that it served as a platform for individual poetic evolution.

On the other hand, in our country, due to completely opposite practices, it is not easy to find many examples of that healthy artistic continuity, where new advances were made based on the firm road trod by previous generations. Therefore, the few cases that do exist deserve to be made known and highlighted because of their significance as an affirmation of family identity over time and as an ongoing continuity of an art or craft.

Such is the case of the Miciu-Nicolaevici family (Konstantin, 1907-1992), sons (Georg and Demetreus) and grandsons (Emaús and Eliseo), three generations of artists united in the same adventure of capturing, either by means of a paintbrush, a palette knife or a camera, that 'sublime unseizable moment' that Faust pursued all his life.

“The impasto is generous but never overwhelming; the broad stroke of his flat brush knows how to lay tones and touches into the background — full of colour in the darks, never raw white in the lights. The flowers, for which he declares a great passion, are exactly that: the reflection of a passionate painter with enough control of expression to render, with great delicacy, the subtlety and fragility of flowers.”

Grandfather, father and, generations before, a member of the Buck family: all of them painters. This was the beginning of a privileged school.

Emaús simply followed what was innate. Inseparable from painting and with a long career behind him, he lived and worked in San Martín de los Andes, Merlo and Catamarca.

He died on June 2, 2024, at the age of 45, leaving a great artistic and human legacy, remembered through tributes throughout the region.

Curriculum

  1. 1991

    On his first trip to Patagonia he paints his first watercolours in open air.

  2. 1992

    He accompanies his grandfather Constantino and paints with him during his last days.

  3. 1994

    He exhibits in Nono (Córdoba hills)

  4. 1995

    He exhibits in “La Querencia” Gallery, Villa Allende, Córdoba.
    He has his first individual exhibition in San Martín de los Andes in the cultural centre Amankay.

  5. 1997

    Exhibits in Plaza Albertina, Neuquén city.

  6. 1998

    A joint exhibition of the three generations of Miciu Nicolaevici painters is inaugurated in the National Museum of Decorative Art.
    Ivan Moricz Karl guides him in drawing and composition.

  7. 1999

    He spends a season at “Boquete”, situated in the Patagonian woods, together with the well known artist Ivan Moricz Karl.

  8. 2000

    The Art Valmont Gallery presents his paintings in Buenos Aires.
    He participates in a collective show in the city of Steamboat U.S.A., exhibiting in the Tread of Pioneers Museum.

  9. 2002

    He does a demonstration of his painting in the National Meeting of Artists (contest of “Plain-air” painting).

  10. 2003

    He travels to Europe in search of the great masters and school of impressionists. In Spain he is reunited with Granada, the city of his birth, and members of his family.
    On his journey through the continent he visits the most important museums, among them the Museo Del Prado, Musee D’Orsay, Louvre, Picasso Museum and the Neue Pinacoteke of Munich.
    In Linares, city of the province of Jaén, he exhibits in Eduma, an art gallery inaugurated in 1976 by his father Georg, where his grandfather Constantino also exhibited his work.
    With his younger brother he travels through Austria and they visit the Academy of Beaux-Arts in Vienna where their grandfather Constantino received his academic formation.
    In August he inaugurates a selection of paintings done in Europe for an exhibition in the Pegasus Gallery.
    He makes his second trip to Europe. Enamoured of the Catalan coast he paints, among others, “Light of the Mediterranean” and “Catalan Coast”.

  11. 2004

    In February 2004 he goes to England for a month to stay in London, visiting museums, and later to travel the countryside.
    Passing again through Barcelona he makes contact with the Salvat Gallery in the Princess Sofía Hotel.
    He travels to Munich and then to Salzburg. He meets Leon Einberger, a colleague with whom he exchanges ideas and shares the school of aux Plain-air. He exhibits in Caigasse 40 in the city of Salzburg.
    He visits the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Kröller Muller Museum in Otterlo (the Low Countries). In Brussels he goes to the Royal Museum of Beaux-Arts.
    On his way through the main cities of Europe, he materializes on canvas the atmosphere and colour of each one. Among others he gets to know Munich, Amsterdam, Brussels, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Bruges, Prague, Venice, Milan and Naples.

  12. 2005

    He exhibits his selection of paintings called “Europe 2004” in different exhibitions held in San Martín de los Andes, Villa la Angostura, Cordoba city (in the College of Attorneys of Cordoba city) and the city of Buenos Aires (in the Pegasus and Madero Arts Galleries).
    Together with his brothers and his father he makes a journey through argentine Patagonia from San Martín de los Andes to Ushuaia.

  13. 2006

    With the name “In the frame of spring” his show is inaugurated in the Municipal Hall of San Martín de los Andes with a retrospective and his spring series.
    He prepares his mobile workshop and travels Patagonia on a pictorial voyage.
    He exhibits in the Maritime Museum of Ushuaia and the museum acquires his painting “Warm Water” to add to their pinacoteque. He gives talks and shows in various colleges of Ushuaia.
    In Río Gallegos he presents a show and gives initiation courses in painting at Fundacruz.
    He inaugurates the show “Impressionist South” in Paihuen, San Martín de los Andes.

  14. 2007

    In 2007 he inaugurates in his home town the exhibition "Impressionist
    Argentina", with which he also presents himself later on in the Hotel Costa
    Galana, in Mar del Plata. He makes his third trip to Europe, to paint the
    French Brittany, Ireland, Cataluña and Andalucía.

    He again visits the principal museums of Paris and Madrid.

  15. 2008

    In 2008 his show "Patagonian Brushes in Europe" is inaugurated in the
    Caleuche salon of Paihuen in San Martín de los Andes. He travels to Mendoza
    to paint the autumn and gathers together the exhibition "Private Collection"
    with paintings of this region and pieces in the hands of collectors. He
    marries Yuki Oda and installs himself in Merlo, province of San Luis.

  16. 2009

    In 2009 he opens the display "Hillside Airs" to the public, in the Howard
    Johnson Hotel in Merlo, in the studio of architecture Posseto Pringues. In
    May the Bianchi winery inaugurates the presentation of "Scenery and Customs"
    in San Rafael, Mendoza, and also the exhibition "Travels" is opened in
    Varekai, a privileged place for art in the city of Merlo. He finishes his
    studio in Merlo, San Luis. Cozzani Art inaugurates their gallery with one of
    Emaús' shows.Wins second prize in San Luis Goberment´s art contest for "Pueblo Ranquel"

  17. 2010

    Expone en Paihuén y realiza pintura au plain-air junto a su padre. Inaugura la muestra “Impresionismo en San Luis en el Hotel Potrero de los Funes de San Luis. Inaugura tercera muestra en el espacio Varekai de Merlo San Luis. Galería Chaumeil Bergez abre muestra de Emaús en San Antonio de Areco. Sala De Georg inaugura “Miciu Nicolaevici III”,

  18. 2024

    Passing: He died on June 2, 2024, at the age of 45, leaving a great artistic and human legacy, remembered through tributes throughout the region.

Reviews

"Emaús, hijo de Georg, nacido en Noviembre de 1978 en Granada, comparte la visión rápida de densa materialidad y el registro temático de Georg y también su concepción humanista del mundo y del arte. Más impulsiva y abocetada, poética coincide en cantar a la naturaleza, al hombre y –tal como los Miciu Nicolaevici nos enseñan desde hace más de medio siglo- en afirmar los valores de la identidad familiar a través del oficio del arte y el amor a la vida."

— Alberto Belluci
Dice Emerson que para el sabio valen tantos libros y adoctrinamientos como la observación de la naturaleza y que su diccionario es la vida misma, con todas sus experiencias.
El muy contemporáneo Emaús Miciu Nicolaevici es un artista de origen rumano que nació en Granada en 1978. Los que miden el arte por patrones ajenos al arte de los pinceles se sorprenderán con sus marinas, que evocan a Sorolla, o sus paisajes, fruto de un reciente viaje a la Europa mediterránea. Este artista es pintor de tercera generación, lo que es aún menos común que en el caso de aquellos maestros que conocemos como "el Viejo" y "el Joven". Emaús vendría a ser "el muy joven".
Radicado desde hace más de diez años en San Martín de los Andes, este creador nos brinda, con pincelada espontánea a partir del riguroso manejo de su oficio, la visión renovada del ojo que contempla la naturaleza con amor. Decía Gabriel Marcel: "Lo que no se hace por amor y para el amor, termina haciéndose contra el amor". Es importante pues destacar la amorosa dedicación de este artista joven ya maduro, como para instalar sus visiones en este mundo que merece llamarse el mundo del arte.
Una muestra para regocijarnos con pintura de la mejor ley.
— Diario LA NACION por Rafael Squirru
La lozanía de lo inalterable, la perspectiva de una emoción que perdura en el tiempo, es el sentimiento que fluye a través de la pintura de Emaús. Impacta con su aplicación de la luz, de la atmósfera y la fusión natural de cielo, tierra y agua en un paisaje que atrae la vista una y otra vez hacia la tela con la fuerza irresistible de un imán. La convivencia perfecta y armónica con la realidad mirada desde la impresión que surge de lo imaginario. Un poema logrado en óleo con matices de pastel, los colores del sol en España, la bruma de Londres y el aire diáfano y transparente de la Patagonia.
Emaús da testimonio de la intangible belleza que nos rodea. Para utilizar sus propias palabras: Emaús "pinta desde la emoción".
— Janet Dickinson
Del cuadro "Siglos de Majestad"
La visión de Emaús, en esta obra es “desde afuera”. Abarca todo con una sola mirada; como viendo la majestuosa cultura árabe desde la España del siglo XXI.
El proverbial fausto moro queda en nuestra imaginación. Las sobrias, casi modernas, líneas del perfil de la Alambra ante nosotros. Testimonia, además, certera y plásticamente el luminoso aire andaluz y mediterráneo.
Evidentemente de sus genes brotan simpatías ocultas de nuestros paseos dominicales en su ciudad natal.