Stefan Bertalan Untitled, 1979

Bertalan was a sophisticated connoisseur of plants, mushrooms, birds and other inhabitants of the forests or hills near his home. He would take long walks or bike rides into the woods and spend hours observing one particular plant or its microcosm. This particular work depicts an almost abstracted landscape consisting of renditions of the sun rays’ movements and different stances of a Datura stramonium, also known as the thorn apple. Stylistically, the drawing appears to be a precursor of the 1981-1987 Apariții (Apparitions) series - among the first superimposition works in which the artist depicts and explores the possibilities of becoming plants.