Remembering Romania. I am writing this in the middle of the night, as I am jet lagged from our flight from Europe.  Today we sorted through our pictures of Romania deleting duplicates, those with thumbs, and blurred shots taken from the car. But the remaining photos are keepers. Be thankful that I rarely remember the names of monuments.  I mostly recall the moments. In the case of Romania I remember palaces, places, and people. Countrysides, cobblestones, and crafts. And much more.

But…we saw very little art. I am not sure if we just missed it or if art isn’t an important part of Romanian life. I realized this on our final day, as we exchanged our remaining Romanian Lei for US Dollars. One Lei equals 25 cents, so we had many of bills. It was then that I noticed that the 10 Lei bill was graced with the picture of painter Nicolae Grigorescu. Apparently he was not a two-bit artist and that Romania is proud of him. The honoring of a painter seems incongruous with our travel experience.

So, here I am Googling Grigorescu at midnight. Wikipedia facts: 1838-1907.  He “was one of the founders of modern Romanian painting.”  Okay, I assume the Grigorescu didn’t have a tortured or aborted life. And, apparently modern Romanian painting does exist. Upon further scrolling, I learned that Grigorescu was an impressionist painter and also a writer. He studied and painted in France and was influenced by painters in the Barbizon school. “Some of the most prominent features of this school are its tonal qualities, color, loose brushwork and softness of form.” In 1890, after living and painting in France, he returned to Romania. 

Nicolae Grigorescu Self Portrait

These are lovely paintings. I am struck that Romania still would be a wonderful place to paint. 

Post Script...In response to this article, my friend Miriam, who is a Romanian born artist, assured me that Romania does, in fact, have an artistic tradition. She provided me with these links, which I found to be very interesting.

https://www.wikiart.org/en/corneliu-baba

http://artodyssey1.blogspot.com/2009/10/georges-mazilu-born-in-romania-in-1951.html

https://www.wikiart.org/en/theodor-pallady

http://tylercollection.omeka.net/artists

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/fdc1976dn7m25/sabin-balasa/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ageunNJcoEo