Born on 13 April 1886 as the first of five children of Anastasia and Neculai Toniță. He had three children. Born in
Bârlad, he left his hometown in 1902 in order to attend the
Iași National School of Fine Arts, where he had among his teachers
Gheorghe Popovici and
Emanoil Bardasare. The following year he visited
Italy together with
University of Bucharest students of
archaeology under the direction of
Grigore Tocilescu. Throughout his life, he remained committed to the Munich School, hailing its innovative style over the supposedly "obscure imitators of
Matisse". After his return, Tonitza painted
frescos in several churches of
Moldavia and worked as an art teacher, and then, together with
Cezar Petrescu, as editor of
Iașul newspaper. He married Ecaterina Climescu in 1913. Wounded, he fell
prisoner to the
Bulgarians, and was sent to an internment camp in
Kardzhali, together with fellow painter and the sculptor Horia Boambă. There, he became ill with
malaria and
rheumatism, which would plague him until his death. For his valor in battle, Tonitza was awarded in November 1916 the
Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd class. He was set free and returned in April 1918. His commitment to social commentary is best perceivable in his graphic work, malicious and sometimes dramatical — he sketched for many contemporary, usually political and
leftist, magazines:
Socialismul (official voice of the short-lived
Socialist Party of Romania),
Adevărul,
Flacăra,
Hiena,
Rampa, and
Scarlat Callimachi's
Clopotul —, and in his articles (including the ones in
Viața Românească and
Curentul), which mainly discussed cultural and social events. He became close to the writer and activist
Gala Galaction, whose book
O lume nouă he illustrated in 1919, and whose portrait ("The Man of a New World") he painted one year later. and decided to cease contributing to the press. The same year, he took
Camil Ressu's defense during a scandal involving the latter's design for a
National Theater curtain, attacking the artistic guidelines advocated by the cultural establishment ("[Romania is] the country where scientist historians compose erotic pieces and embarrassing rhymes, [...] where
intellectual women draw the gusty gestures of decrepit
election agents, [...] where physicians push their rusty
hypodermics into the unmentionable muscle tissues of artists as a means to draw up aesthetical
logarithms"). He met success in 1925, after opening a large exhibit of his Vălenii de Munte paintings in
Bucharest, while raising controversy (including criticism from Ressu) over his "
poster-like" style. A participant in several national exhibitions and
World Fairs, he painted his last works around
Balchik. According to Zambaccian, Tonitza's early association with
socialism was partly due to the interest taken in him by the leftist press, who was willing to reward his contributions at a time when "one could not live solely by painting". He fell severely ill in 1937, and died three years later. He is buried at the
Ghencea Cemetery, in Bucharest. ==Art==