The
National Museum of Art of Romania is located in the former
royalThe Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
palace in
Revolution SquareRevolution Square is a square in central Bucharest, on Calea Victoriei. Known as Piaţa Palatului until 1989, it was later renamed after the 1989 Romanian Revolution....
, central
BucharestBucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
,
RomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, completed in 1937. It features notable collections of medieval and modern
Romanian artArt of Romania encompasses the artists and artistic movements in Romania.-Romanian contemporary and modern artists:* Almaşan Virgil* Adela Andea* George Apostu* Corneliu Baba* Calin Baban* Sabin Bălaşa* Horia Bernea* Traian Brădean...
, as well as the international collection assembled by the
Romanian royal familyKing of the Romanians , rather than King of Romania , was the official title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Romania from 1881 until 1947, when Romania was proclaimed a republic....
.
The museum was damaged during the
1989 Romanian RevolutionThe Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
that led to the downfall of
Nicolae CeauşescuNicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
. In 2000, part of the museum reopened to the public, housing the modern Romanian collection and the international collection; the comprehensive
Medieval artThe medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of art history in Europe, and at times the Middle East and North Africa...
collection, which now features works salvaged from
monasteriesMonastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
destroyed during the Ceauşescu era, reopened in spring 2002. There are also two halls that house temporary exhibits.
The modern Romanian collection features sculptures by
Constantin BrâncuşiConstantin Brâncuşi was a Romanian-born sculptor who made his career in France. As a child he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris...
and
Dimitrie PaciureaDimitrie Paciurea – 14 July 1932) was a Romanian sculptor. His representational and symbolic style contrasts strongly to the more abstract style of his contemporary and co-national Constantin Brâncuşi....
, as well as paintings by
Theodor AmanTheodor Aman was a Romanian painter of Armenian descent. His style is often considered to be a predecessor of Impressionism.He is buried in Bellu cemetery.-External links:...
,
Nicolae GrigorescuNicolae Grigorescu was one of the founders of modern Romanian painting.-Biography:He was born in Pitaru, Dâmboviţa County, Wallachia. In 1843 the family moved to Bucharest. At a young age , he became an apprentice at the workshop of the painter Anton Chladek and created icons for the church of...
,
Theodor PalladyTheodor Pallady was a Romanian painter.-Biography:Pallady was born in Iaşi, but at a young age, his family moved to Dresden, where he studied engineering at the Dresden University of Technology between 1887 and 1889. At the same time, he studied art with Erwin Oehme, who, recognising his artistic...
,
Gheorghe PetraşcuGheorghe Petraşcu was a Romanian painter. He won numerous prizes throughout his lifetime and had his paintings exhibited posthumously at the Paris International Exhibition and the Venice Biennale. He was the brother of N. Petraşcu, a literary critic and novelist.-External links:**...
, and
Gheorghe TattarescuGheorghe Tattarescu was a Moldavian-born Romanian painter and a pioneer of neoclassicism in his country's modern painting.-Early life and studies:...
.
The international collection includes works by
Old Master"Old Master" is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period...
s such as
Domenico VenezianoDomenico Veneziano was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active mostly in Perugia and Tuscany.Little is known of his birth, though he is thought to have been born in Venice, hence his last name. He then moved to Florence in 1422-23 as a boy, to become a pupil of Gentile da Fabriano. He...
,
El GrecoEl Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
,
TintorettoTintoretto , real name Jacopo Comin, was a Venetian painter and a notable exponent of the Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso...
,
Jan van EyckJan van Eyck was a Flemish painter active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century....
,
Jan Brueghel the ElderJan Brueghel the Elder was a Flemish painter, son of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and father of Jan Brueghel the Younger. Nicknamed "Velvet" Brueghel, "Flower" Brueghel, and "Paradise" Brueghel, of which the latter two were derived from his floral still lifes which were his favored subjects, while the...
,
Peter Paul Rubens, and
Rembrandt, plus a smattering of works by
impressionistsImpressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
such as
Claude MonetClaude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
and
Alfred SisleyAlfred Sisley was an Impressionist landscape painter who was born and spent most of his life, in France, but retained British citizenship. He was the most consistent of the Impressionists in his dedication to painting landscape en plein air...
. Among the most famous Old Master works in the collection are
Jacopo AmigoniJacopo Amigoni , also named Giacomo Amiconi, was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque or Rococo period, who began his career in Venice, but traveled and was prolific throughout Europe, where his sumptuous portraits were much in demand....
's portrait of the singer
FarinelliFarinelli , was the stage name of Carlo Maria Broschi, celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera.- Early years :...
, a
Crucifixion by
Antonello da MessinaAntonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio was an Italian painter from Messina, Sicily, active during the Italian Renaissance...
, and Alonso Cano's
Christ at the Column.
Other noteworthy non-Romanian paintings are
- Bernardino Licinio
Bernardino Licinio was an Italian High Renaissance painter of Venice and Lombardy. Born in Poscante . He mainly painted portraits and religious canvases.-Anthology of Works:*Holy Family with the Magdalene...
's "Return of Prodigal Son"
- Hans von Aachen
Hans von Aachen , was a German mannerist painter.-Biography:He was born in Cologne, but his name is derived from the birthplace of his father, Aachen in Germany...
's "3 Graces"
- Aegidus Sadeler's "Hall of Hradcany"
- Bartholomäus Zeitblom
Bartholomäus Zeitblom was a German painter, the chief master of the school of Ulm, where he is on official record from 1482 to 1518.-Biography:...
's "Saint Barbara"
- Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
's "Camille in Green Dress"
- Paul Signac
Paul Signac was a French neo-impressionist painter who, working with Georges Seurat, helped develop the pointillist style.-Biography:Paul Victor Jules Signac was born in Paris on 11 November 1863...
's "Gate"
In the Modern Romanian Section, the following painters are also represented:
- Nicolae Grigorescu
Nicolae Grigorescu was one of the founders of modern Romanian painting.-Biography:He was born in Pitaru, Dâmboviţa County, Wallachia. In 1843 the family moved to Bucharest. At a young age , he became an apprentice at the workshop of the painter Anton Chladek and created icons for the church of...
- Stefan Luchian
Ștefan Luchian or Lukian was a Romanian painter, famous for his landscapes and still life works.-Early life:He was born in Ștefănești, a village of Botoșani County, as the son of Major Dumitru Luchian and of Elena Chiriacescu. The Luchian family moved to Bucharest in 1873 and his mother desired...
- Cecilia Cutescu-Storck
- Nicolae Tonitza
Nicolae Tonitza was a Romanian painter, engraver, lithographer, journalist and art critic. Drawing inspiration from Post-impressionism and Expressionism, he had a major role in introducing modernist guidelines to local art.-Biography:...
- Herman Maxy
- Victor Brauner
Victor Brauner was a Romanian Jewish painter of surrealistic images.-Early life:He was born in Piatra Neamţ, the son of a timber manufacturer who subsequently settled in Vienna with his family for a few years. It is there that young Victor attended elementary school...
External links