Colecţia de artă românească modernă din patrimoniul Muzeului de Artă Timişoara
The Romanian modern art collection from the Art Museum in Timişoara

Summary/Abstract: The forming of The Romanian modern art collection, which now exists within the Museum of Art in Timişoara, is the result of numerous years of efforts and intercessions of the museum’s staff to enrich it’s heritage through acquisitions, donations and transfers and was also brought about by a necessity to exhibit in this part of the country the works of leading Romanian artists from the XIX-th and XXth century. The Romanian modern art collection is very well structured, taking the form of a history lesson about Romanian art, from the second half of the XIXth century to the early stages of postmodernism. The very academic portraits of Gheorghe Tăttărescu (1820-1894), Constantin Lecca (1807-1887), Sava Henţia (1848-1904) and Theodor Aman (1831-1891) are leading examples of Romanian neoclassical works. Ion Andreescu (1850-1882) and Nicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907) were the two personalities that integrated Romanian painting into the European artistic movements. The influences of the Scool from Barbizon and those of the french impressionism can be clearly observed in their landscapes and compositions. Ştefan Luchian (1868-1916), whose manner derives from impressionism and developes further in the XXth century, shows in his works a very refined chromatic finesse. The dramatic and strongly evocative chromatic of Gheorghe Petraşcu (1872-1949) can be admired in his venetian and local landscapes. Theodor Pallady (1871-1956) displays in his works a simplified and rational construction of the shapes, keeping also within the chormatic choices a reminder of the fovism that concerned him when he sudied painting in Paris next to Henri Matisse, Georges Roualt and Albert Marquet. Nicolae Tonitza (1886-1940), a notorious personality of Romanian art is especially recognised for his many portraits of children, where the styling of the shapes takes a rather decorative aspect. Francisc Şirato (1877-1953) shows in his paintings a harmonious synthesis between late XIX century artistic events, Modernism and his own researches. His portraits of women and the landscape in the exhibition are wonderful demonstrations of light and color. Camil Ressu (1880-1962) also practices a more realistic approach in his works with a solid composition and a very expressive drawing. Iosif Iser (1881-1958) prefers to depict the exoticism of the Far East using very expressive colors and energetic brush strokes. The landscapes painted by A.J.Steriadi (1880-1956) are no less important, with their sober composition and chromatics. This particular style will be emphasized through the works of artists such as Dimitrie Ghiaţă (1888-1872) and Henri Catargi (1894-1976) that use an extremely simple, yet profound way of rendering by synthesizing the means of expression. The great value of the the Romanian modern art collection from the museum in Timişoara is especially the coherent selection of works, that allows the observation of an entire century of changes in the modern art phenomenon in Romania. The importance of this collection consists in the quality of its components, namely the representative works of leading Romanian artists from the XIXth and the XXth centuries that created the Romanian modern art, offering it its rightful place in the universal art scenery.

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