Village Museum Bucharest

The Village Museum, lying on the Herăstrău lake shore in Bucharest, is one of the biggest and the oldest outdoors museum in Europe.


In the 1930's, in Europe there were only two open-air museums: The Skansen Museum in Stockholm (1891) and Bigdo Museum in Lillehamer (Norway). In our country, at that time, existed the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania in the Hoia Park in Cluj, founded in 1929 by Professor Romulus Vuia. In Romania, the idea of creating an outdoor museum appeared since the second half of the nineteenth century: Alexander Odobescu proposed the presentation in the Universal Exhibition in Paris, in a special pavilion, of monuments of popular architecture.



Later, scientist Alex Tzigara Samurcaş would consider bringing in the Ethnographic, National Art, Decorative Arts and Industrial Arts Museum in Bucharest, founded by him in 1906, of "authentic and complete of all households most important regions inhabited by Romanians". The project begun by exposure in 1909 in this museum, of the "Ceauru" house, a real wood architectural jewel of Gorj County. All these initiatives were the founding premises of the appearance of open air museums in Romania: the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania in Cluj, with regional specific, and the National Village Museum "Dimitrie Gusti" in Bucharest, with national character.



The creation of the National Village Museum was the goal of an intensive and sustained research, also as museography experiments developed over more than a decade, coordinated by Dimitrie Gusti, founder of the Sociological School of Bucharest. As head of the Sociological Department of the University of Bucharest, Gusti organized between 1925-1935, with specialists in different fields (sociologists, ethnographers, folklorist, geographers, statisticians, physicians) and his students, research campaign with interdisciplinary nature, in a relatively large number of villages. At the end of those campaigns were organized, with items brought from the field, two major exhibitions in 1934 and 1935, as a prelude to the future open-air museum in Bucharest.



Based on these experiences, in 1936, in only two months, Gusti could build the outstanding National Village Museum. In that short time, teams of specialists and students (the same who participated in field campaigns), led by Professors D. Gusti and H.H. Stahl, purchased from studied villages buildings (houses, household annexes, churches, plant) and indoor objects (furniture, ceramics, fabrics, tools, etc.),considered as representative for their places of origin. In compliance with the criterion of authenticity and the respect for local traditions of construction, the buildings were reconstructed by craftsmen from the origin villages of the monuments, who worked under supervision of the specialists Henry H. Stahl and Victor Ion Popa. The official opening was on May 10, 1936, in the presence of King Carol II and for the public a week later, on May 17.


In its early stage, between 1936-1940, the Museum had a surface of 6.5 ha, with 33 authentic sites transferred from the villages studied. Their arrangement was made after a plan developed by the playwright and designer Victor Ion Popa. This plan, which is largely true today, tends to reproduce the map of Romania, by grouping the monuments of architecture and popular technique on the criterion of geographical proximity of villages of origin, in areas representing major historical provinces of the country. The museum has today over 100,000 m2, and contains 272 authentic peasant farms and houses from all over Romania.

Happy New Year!

Corala Trinitas - Pluguşorul





Sorcova

Eustaţiu Stoenescu

Eustaţiu Stoenescu (1884, Craiova - 1957, New York) was a famous Romanian painter.


Self-portrait, 1943
Stoenescu had contact with the painting at 15 yo, when the French painter Leopold Durangel (1828-1898) comes into his parents' house to do a portrait of his mother. After visiting the retrospective exhibition Nicolae Grigorescu, opened in 1897 in Bucharest at the Romanian Athenaeum, he decided irreversibly to follow the same path.


Piazza San Marco
He studied at the Julian Academy and at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris with Jean-Paul Laurens, with whom he collaborated in the execution of the tapestry cartoons and some wall decorations. If the beginning of his career was influenced by Grigorescu, Stoenescu gradually broke away from any influence, building a highly personalized style.


Chimney
Stoenescu painted genre scenes, landscapes, still life, notably through subtle gray tones, but was mainly a virtuous portraitist, by the gift of an exceptionally laconic expression and distant vision, solemn, but not without expressiveness. Stoenescu´s portraits compel recognition, in terms of consummate execution, offhanded touch and spontaneous inspiration. Attentive to psychological details, the painter proved capable to transcribe reality faithfully, to select the essential and subordinate coloristic effects to expressiveness.


Panait Istrati
Painted in a wide range of styles, with an extraordinary verve, his portraits illustrate the talent of a gifted artist, to capture, with no hesitation, and to define clearly the universe of a human face as well as to concentrate, into a single image, the history of a lifetime. In Romania, as well as abroad, he was acknowledged as the artist who made the portraits of different officials, state leaders, members of the aristocracy, of wealthy intellectuals, of fashionable, distinguished ladies. He made them quickly, without endless sessions. He was a virtuoso, a magician of the brush.


Woman in artist's workshop, 1910
Endowed with exceptional qualities and moreover having received a remarkable education, Eustaţiu Stoenescu created an oeuvre, which focused attention on him on three continents: Europe, North America an Asia. Thus, his participation in the great exhibitions of the time or his one-man shows in Paris, Venice, New York, London, Rome, Geneva, Bucharest etc. brought him the unanimous appreciation of experts, critics, the press and the art collectors. Numerous prizes, special honors as well as the purchase of his paintings for great museums and private collections from France, Italy, the USA, Great Britain, Belgium, and Holland etc. established him internationally.


Henrieta Delavrancea-Gibory
As a constant presence in the fashionable circles of the time, Stoenescu had the image of a cosmopolitan character, refined and somewhat arrogant. Painter of great talent, considered one of the greatest portrait painters of the time, Eustaţiu Stoenescu entered into obscurity after the WWII, after his death being almost forgotten.

Aurel Cojan

Aurel Cojan (March 3, 1914, Beceni, Buzau, - December, 2005, Paris) was a renowned Romanian painter and decorative artist.


Between 1932-1934 he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest, where he studied under Francisc Sirato and Camil Ressu. Between 1933-1944 he exhibited at the Official Salons, and from 1944 to 1969 at State and Regional Exhibitions. Cojan's first personal exhibition was in 1945, at Hasefer Hall in Bucharest, followed by the exhibitions in 1946 and 1947 at the Romanian Athenaeum and in 1956, 1964 at the Plastic Fund Gallery in Bucharest. He exposed abroad in Prague (1962), Warsaw (1964), in Havana (1966), at the Sao Paolo Biennale (1967).


In 1969 he left the country and never returned to Romania, living in Paris.


Since 1971 he exhibited in France at Comparaisons, Realites Nouvelles, Salons of Villeparisis, Musee de Clermont-Ferrand and various other artistic events, such as Adam Gallery (Paris, 1974), Galleries Chevalier, Raph, Jacques Barbier, Francois Mitaine (Paris, 1978). His most recent solo exhibition were at Alain Margaron Gallery (Paris 1998, 1999), Counterpoint Gallery (Bucharest, 1999), Romanian Cultural Center in Paris (1999), Counterpoint Gallery (Bucharest, 2002). Aurel Cojan has permanent exhibitions at Alain Margaron Gallery in Paris and at Counterpoint Gallery in Bucharest.


In 1966 he was awarded the Prize for painting of the Romanian Artists Union. In 1983 he received the title of Knight of Arts and Letters from the Ministry of Culture of France, recognizing its artistic merits in his adopted homeland. In 1996 he received the prize "Thalens" of the parisian Beaux-Arts Magazine. In 2004, commemorating 90 years of age he was decorated by the President of Romania with the Order of Cultural Merit as Grand Officer and by the Ministry of Culture with the Excellence Award.

Idel Ianchelevici

Idel Ianchelevici (May 5, 1909, Leova — June 28, 1994, Maison-Laffitte) was a Romanian and Belgian sculptor and draughtsman.


Born to Jewish parents in Leova, Bessarabia, he left Romania for Belgium in 1928 to devote himself entirely to his passion for sculpture and drawing. After completing his military service back home, he returned to Liège and registered at the Académie des Beaux-Arts de la Ville, where he was awarded First Prize for statuary art in 1933.


La Cracheuse, 1943, Brussels
The same year, he married Elisabeth Frenay and moved to Brussels. He took part in the design of the Romanian pavilion for the Exposition Internationale Universelle in Brussels in 1935 and went on to hold a variety of exhibitions of his own in Brussels, Tel-Aviv, Paris, Amsterdam and several other cities.



Le plongeur, Liège
1945 was the watershed year: Ianchelevici obtained Belgian citizenship, and his famous statue L'Appel ("The Call") was officially unveiled in La Louvière. 10 years later, Ianchelevici was awarded a grant to work in the Belgian Congo, where he designed three statues intended to supplement the famous Stanley-monument in Léopoldville (now Kinshasa) and produced a number of outstanding drawings. He subsequently exhibited his work in countries throughout the world. In 1950, he settled in France, at Maison-Laffitte, where he remained until his death on at the age of 86. A cultural center in the town now bears his name.


Homme assis aux jambes croisées, pencil, 1945
The works of Ianchelevici literally step out of the medium. There is no void, no gap: the composition is entirely dictated by the mass and form of its volume (Paternel). From 1945 onwards, Ianchelevici began sculpting marble and stone - two notoriously difficult materials which require simplification of form. Limbs grew longer and more supple and the themes moved on, taking inspiration from the unformed, girlish figures of his young subjects. The artist's career underwent a major change at this point, as he embarked upon a ceaseless quest for simpler forms and more schematic faces (Eve, 1980). Alongside his sculpting, Ianchelevici never stopped drawing. His drawings are works of art in their own right, and not always sketches for his sculptures. In both disciplines, however, he draws on the same themes and strives for the same simplicity of form. (From Wikipedia. Visit also Le Musée Ianchelevici)

Nicolae Grigorescu

Nicolae Grigorescu (May 15, 1838—July 21, 1907) was one of the founders of modern Romanian painting.


He was born in Pitaru, (judeţul Dâmboviţa), Romania. In 1843 the family moved to Bucureşti. His three-year apprenticeship, begun at an early age (1848), to Anton Chladek, a Czech painter living in Bucharest, was followed by a time when he created icons for the church of Băicoi and the monastery of Căldăruşani. In 1856 he created the historical composition Michael the Brave dropping the flag, which he presented to the Wallachian Prince Barbu Ştirbei, together with a petition asking for financial aid for his studies. Between 1856 and 1857, he painted the church of the Zamfira Monastery (Prahova County), and in 1861 the church of the Agapia Monastery. With the help of Mihail Kogălniceanu, he received a scholarship to study in France.


His first years in Paris were spent at Sebastian Cornu's studio, where Renoir also made his apprenticeship. He used to go to the Louvre for reproducing children faces in Gericault's, Rubens's and Rembrandt's pictures. Being obsessed with the "plein-air" genre, which paved the way to the irruption of the Impressionistic school, Grigorescu spent each summer, as far as 1869, painting at Barbizon and some other places in the neighborhood of Paris. His paintings were shown at the Paris Salon in 1868, at the Bucharest Exhibitions of Living Artists (since 1870) and at the Art Exhibitions of the "Les Amis des Beaux-Arts" Society (since 1873). During 1873-1874 he would go on a study tour to Italy, Vienna, Greece and Constantinopole.


As frontline painter, he joined the troops in the 1877-1878 Independence War, and realized drawings which were to inspire his later compositions. One year after the Independence War he would paint in France, mostly in Bretagne, at Vitre, and at his Paris studio for twelve years (1879-1890). After his coming back, a succession of personal exhibitions would be organized at the Romanian Athenaeum in 1891, 1895, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1904. In 1889 his work was featured in the Universal Exhibition in Paris. He built a house at Câmpina, later to become the "Nicolae Grigorescu" Museum. He was named honorary member of the Romanian Academy in 1899.


At the dawn of modern Romanian culture, a time originating Eminescu's poetical genius, the pictorial language of Grigorescu became highly innovative. Grigorescu's painting art, diverse as it was, from that of a young mural painter to that of an Impressionistic School cognizer, was always on the acme and reverberated in the 20th century, long after his death. Father of modern Romanian painting, with Andreescu and Luchian as successors, Grigorescu was the great master worshiped by new generations of artists, who, early this century, were striving to reveal the profound wealth of the Romanian soul.


The uniqueness of his style and vision is to be remarked in portraits (D. Grecescu, Carol Davila, Andreescu at Barbizon), in self-portraits, in his compositions on the Independence War (Attack at Smârdan, A mounted rosior, Scenes with Turkish prisoners), in his several "Oxen Carts" pictures, in the country landscapes and the landscapes painted elsewhere (At Posada, The Grainville Fisherwoman, Crossroads at Vitre, The Old Woman in Brolle, A Wood Hut, An Autumn Landscape). His French "plein-air" experience matured into bringing light in his work and into rendering his composition genuinely rigorous and spontaneous.


The reality in his pictures is profoundly unaltered. The "secret geometry" of the picture keeps it unaltered, while, in the forefront, events seem to take place and the colors are bewildering. Grasping reality as the light changes it was one of the painter's great pleasures. In doing so he never got tired with the visible world. He was not prone to looking for picturesque in it, but to finding the valuable depth of a too common reality.

Bánffy Castle

Bánffy Castle (or Bonţida Bánffy Castle) is an architectonic Baroque monument situated in Bonţida (Bonchida / Bruck), a village in the vicinity of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It was owned by the Bánffy family, and sometimes also called "The Versailles of Transylvania". The today owner is Katalin Bánffy.


The Bánffy Castle in 19th Century
Bonţida was a significant place from the 12th century as a royal possession, belonged to the neighboring counties' royal salt mines. It became inhabited again in the 13th century, after the Mongols' invasion. The history of Bonţida links with the Bánffy family from the end of the 14th century, when King Zsigmond donated Bonţida with the localities belonging to it, to the son of Tamás named Dénes in 1387. After on, the Bánffy family possess Bonţida over centuries.



The Bánffy Castle in 1935
The once single nave church was built in the 12th century with a semi-circular sanctuary, which was demolished in the second part of the 13th century, when enlarged, the church got the new nave and the straight ending sanctuary. The walled up southern gate and the two semicircular windows belonged originally to the first, 12th century church.


Reformed church - The nave from the choir
According to a military report, a fortification system already existed, that surrounded the manor house. It is suspected that on this spot a nobiliary residence existed since 14th century, when Baron Bánffy received from King Albert the permission to build a fortress. The construction of the castle started possibly after the Budai Nagy Antal revolt in 1437 by Bánffy Miklós and was finished in 1543. The construction of today’s castle was initiated by Denes Bánffy and lasted between 1638-1674, having as architect the Italian Agostino Serena. His heir, Denes Bánffy II reconstructed the castle beginning with 1745 in baroque style, following the plans of the Viennese architect Joseph Emmanuel Fischer von Erlach. The reconstruction was concentrated on the honor courtyard from the front of the gate building, and was inspired from the Viennese baroque architecture. New buildings have been constructed, such as: the stables and the homes of the servants. He was also the one who gave the castle its new shape, that of two wings in the shape of the letter U. A new wing was built in 1850 by the architect A. Kagerbauer, while Johann Nachtigall sculpted the “Metamorphosis” of Ovidius through imposing stone statues which decorated the gate. Jozsef Bánffy decided the demolition of the gate tower in 1820, uniting the renaissance courtyard with the baroque one, and from the remaining stone the close by water mill was constructed. He also decided the transformation of the baroque park into an English romantic one.



The Bánffy Castle in 1935
In 1944 the castle was evacuated of its owners by the German troups in order to use it as a military hospital. The building was seriously damaged at the end of the WWII, when the German troups that were retreating, attacked, robed and burned the entire ensemble. The entire furniture, the well known portrait gallery and the library were destroyed. The castle was neglected by the communist regime in Romania. The Art Museum from Cluj-Napoca was able to save the statues from the baroque park, keeping them under storage in the donation section, where they are to be found today. In the 60’s the Historic Monuments Direction tried to restore the castle, but the lack of funding could not lead to any concrete action. The castle was still used for the storage of construction materials, the park became a pasture zone and the trees have been cut down as fire wood.


The castle from Southwest
The castle is currently being restored by the Transylvania Trust, with funds from the European Union, Romanian Ministry of Culture, Getty Grant Programme, World Monuments Fund, NKA (Hungary), etc. The Castle of Bonţida is now being restored as a cultural center. An apartment is being prepared for the use of the Count's family. The Built Heritage Conservation Training Centre, opened on the 26th of August 2005, received the main prize for education and awareness raising by the European Union/Europa Nostra in 2008.

(Internet infos compilation, images from Magyar Elektronikus Könyvtár, Literatura.hu)