Beautiful passionate people like to surround themselves with art, no matter its shape. Many of them turn what they love into true collections, which, at the end of their lives, they leave to the next generations. In their world we will enter today, in the world of collectors. And where can we discover this universe? In the most exciting museum that Bucharest has: The Art Collections Museum.
Sheltered by the elegant Romanit Palace, the Art Collections Museum is located on Victory Avenue no. 111, very close to the Romanian Academy.
We also entered this fascinating world of art lovers and visited one by one the rooms of the museum where visitors can admire over 30 collections.
The host was Paula Varga, the person who deals with all matters of communication in the case of the National Museum of Art of Romania. The experts of the institution were also very supportive, who prepared us before starting the route, giving us information on what to watch. Thus, we learned that, whether we are talking about heterogeneous collections, such as the collections of the Petrescu spouses, the Slătineanu or Dona collections, or we are interested in the monographic collections (the Baba, Taru or Lucia Dem. Bălăcescu collection), the museum offers an overview of the collecting phenomenon.
The specialists of the National Museum of Art of Romania have also told us that, during the interwar period, Romanian collecting began to take shape, the amateurs being equally concerned with their contemporary Romanian art, but also with the oriental or decorative art.
We have chosen to present these collections through exceptional exhibitions that you can discover in the rooms of the Art Collections Museum. The selection is not accidental, being made with the support of the museographers.
Grigorescu, Luchian, Tonitza dominate Dona Collection
The first collection that caught our attention is the one started by General Nicolae Dona and continued by his daughter-in-law and his son, Elena and Dr. Iosif Dona.
Those who are fascinated by the art left by Nicolae Grigorescu, Ştefan Luchian and Nicolae Tonitza should not miss this collection.
The specialists think that in this collection you can see best the work of Nicolae Grigorescu, the Dona Collection being one of the best and complete dedicated to the art of the great Romanian painter.
Based on the information provided by the museographers, Paula Varga explains that in this collection, gathered for two generations, we can admire the landscapes that have consecrated the artist, rural landscapes, most often with oxen, but also marine landscapes.
Among the works exhibited are „Nud la malul mării”, oil on canvas. In the case of this painting, a strong contrast is observed between the way the body of the young woman is treated and the landscape realized in short and expressive touches. The character’s position reminds of the models who were posing for hours in art academies, but the head turned leads us to the prudery of a less experienced model.
In the same collection, we have the opportunity to see Stefan Luchian in his early days, when he was not known as a painter of flowers. The artist approached a lot, in his paintings, the urban environment, being especially interested in the characters on the edge of society, those who live hard. Thanks to the portraits made by this painter, Safta Florăreasa and Moș Nicolae Cobzarul are some of the characters that became famous.
„Ghereta din Filantropia”, a pastel on cardboard, is one of the paintings in which he expose one of the topics that the artist has approached very often, in several techniques.
For those who admire Nicolae Tonitza, it is a well-known the fact that the painter has approached the universe of childhood in many of his creations. Appeared in the most usual hypostases, cheerful, playful, but sometimes even slightly melancholy or even sick, the children presented by the artist have a common element, round eyes. „The age-specific innocence is surprised by the round eyes, interpreted as a direct gateway to the soul of the little ones”, the specialists explained.
In the Dona Collection we find the „Fetiţa pădurarului”, but we must mention that the best known variant of this theme, which emphasizes the complementary contrast between the red of the dress and the decorative green around the character, you can see in the Romanian Modern Art Gallery.
The portrait of the little girl in the Dona Collection shows Tonitza’s virtuosity in rendering white and light. The character’s dress shines on the green background, and at a closer look we discover the multitude of colors used by the artist to bring the dress to shine.
The violin teacher’s collection fascinated by Teodor Pallady
Violin teacher Garabet Avachian was one of the most passionate and active art collectors of the twentieth century. The representatives of the Art Collections Museum testify to us that, along with his cousins, brothers Hrandt and Beatrice Avachian, Garabet donated to the cultural institution an impressive art collection, composed of glass icons, modern painting, but also oriental art.
Visiting this collection, you will find that the violin teacher was fascinated by Teodor Pallady’s work, the collection numbering approximately 80 works signed by the artist. In addition to the large number of static natures or nudes present in the collection, attention is also drawn by paintings with a Parisian or simply French theme.
In the Garabet Avachian Collection you have the opportunity to admire the work „Landscape in Paris – Place Dauphine” (1920 -1930), oil on cardboard. “Place Dauphine is an oasis of peace in the middle of Paris. This small market is located near Pont Neuf, one of the most important Parisian bridges. In the building at number 12, Pallady lives and creates until his return to Bucharest, since 1940. The landscape evokes the urban atmosphere of Paris on a late autumn day. The perspective gives us an indication of where the painting is made, the artist’s workshop. Not infrequently, Pallady captures images of Paris from the privacy of his own workshop, opening the window to the city bustle”, experts tell us.
In the same collection we find the work „Peisaj din Bretania” (1925-1927), oil on cardboard, also signed by Teodor Pallady. Moreover, the landscape is one of the Palladian topics encountered especially in the first part of the creation.
The Avachian collection proposes a true panorama of Pallady’s art, Brittany, being present in several works in the collection.
The portrait of the founder of the first private museum
We go to the Simu Collection and we urge you to go and see one of Antoine Bourdelle’s works: „Anastase Simu’s Bust”, a bronze replica of the work done in Pyrenees marble. Museum experts say that it is just one of the works signed by Antoine Bourdelle that arrived in Simu’s collection thanks to his friendship with the French sculptor.
Started in 1920 in Paris, where Simu posed to Bourdelle for a bust to be executed in marble, the work was completed two years later, being presented with great fanfare to the public in Bucharest, in 1924. The portrait of the founder of Simu Museum, the first private museum which opens its doors to the public in 1910, has a lateral incision which reminds of this museum.
The bronze version was later cast in two copies, the one from the Art Collections Museum and the one from the Bourdelle Museum in Paris. Like the marble variant, the bronze sculpture has a portrait of Elena Simu, the collector’s wife.
In the stories of Scheherazade
One of the most spectacular collections that the museum houses is the one made by Marcu Beza, being composed of a variety of objects, starting with jewelry, clothing, Byzantine embroidery and reaching to Islamic carpets.
I assure you that you will spend a lot of time „Arab Chamber-Overview”. From the museographers we know that Marcu Beza made in the 30s an impressive collection of oriental objects, being a great lover of Levantine culture.
The Arab Chamber sends us in the stories of Scheherazade. In the central part, a high wooden panel, adorned with reliefs and paintings, dominates. The bed next to this panel has the boards decorated with small wooden panels with embossed inscriptions, one of them being dated 1215 the year of Hegirei (1800-1801 AD). The assembly is completed by the two windows and the doors in the closet. The room perfectly portrays the atmosphere of the Muslim interior. „Karamaniu prayer skirts, a Saruk rug, a Belucistan rug, a Turkmen bag or BuKhara embroidery are some of the textile items that make up the whole. The hookah, the Koran stand, a high lamp and various engraved metal vessels create the specific intimacy of this room. The male costume makes us think of the collector’s portrait made in watercolor by Rodica Maniu, and the coffee service, located on an oriental table, creates an atmosphere of intimacy”, detail the specialists.
Don’t miss the Corneliu Baba Collection!
The Baba monographic collection was donated to the museum by the artist’s wife, in 2009, and presents the last period of creation of the painter.
We will stop at „Pieta”, a work done by Corneliu Baba in 1982. The oil canvas belongs to the last period of creation, the old age one, when Baba creates in cycles, the most important being „Fears” and „Crazy kings”. „Retired in the fecund intimacy of the workshop, in dialogue with himself, the artist creates a new universe, one in which the passion for the portrait without biography, the anonymous characters, but also the fascination for drama meet. The „Pieta” is built in a manner similar to the „Fears”. At the bottom is the central character, Christ fallen to the ground, and around him the multitude of characters who mourn each in its own way, from a pain retained to hysteria. We recognize the portrait of the wife on the left, and on the opposite side a self-portrait of the artist, both of whom are integrated in this crazy world, which runs so giddy, followed by a nightmare”, the specialists mention.
Finally, we invite you to discover the legacy left by Micaela Eleuteriade, an artist related to Gheorghe Tattarescu. The collection he donated to the museum offers an overview of his art and the way his color palette evolves, from the dull colors from the beginning of his career to the vibrant yellow from maturity. Going through the collection is like traveling around the world because of the works done during your travels.
Right at the entrance to the Eleuteriade collection, the work „Cele două tătăroaice” welcomes us, Orientalism being a common theme, during the interwar period, in the Romanian artistic space.
In another room of the museum, is exhibited the work signed by Alexandru Phoebus, a name less known to the public. The collection was donated by his wife and son and presents the creation of the painter: a universe populated by monumental characters, anecdotal subjects but also citizen images or landscapes that especially remind of Făgăraș Country, an area that the artist particularly loved.
„Fațada bisericii românești din Paris”, a work realized by Alexandru Phoebus between 1927-1928, translates us into the artist’s world in which the grays make up the monumental image of the building, an image that dominates the whole composition.
To see other interesting collections, you must visit this unique museum. You will have the opportunity to discover outstanding artists and passionate collectors. Finally, Paula Varga tells us that „before looking at it as a museum of art, this museum must also be viewed as a museum of art lovers, a museum of the collector”.