Nicolae Grigorescu was the first Romanian painter to enjoy international recognition.
The first Romanian painter to enjoy international recognition and one of the most important founders of modern Romanian painting, Nicolae Grigorescu, was born on May 15, 1838, in Pitaru village, Dâmboviţa County. However, his name is closely linked to the city of Câmpina, on Prahova Valley, where the artist lived his last years. The house he owned there became, after the painter's death, the Nicolae Grigorescu Memorial House, a museum that reflects the biography and activity of the painter who, at only 10 years of age, became the apprentice of the Czech miniaturist painter, Anton Chladek. Curator Alina Apostol has more on Nicolae Grigorescu's career as a fine artist:
"After a short period of apprenticeship, he started painting small icons, which he used to sell at boroughs. When he was 15-16 years old he embraced mural painting, but he also painted on canvas and made frescoes for several monasteries in Prahova County and in Moldavia. In 1861 he left for Paris, to continue his painting studies in the French capital city, at the suggestion of a prominent literary figure and politician, Mihail Kogălniceanu, whom he had met at Agapia monastery in Moldavia. His expenses were covered by the Romanian state. In Paris, he took an exam at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and started working at Sebastien Cornu's art studio. Meanwhile, he tried his hand, by making copies of great works by grand painting masters, at the Louvre. Some works dating back to that period are now on display in our museum. He discovered the Barbizon School and got to know the French painters who had already settled there, such as Jean-Francois Millet. Our museum also exhibits several works from that period such as Sunset in Barbizon, Glade in Barbizon, and The Forest of Fontainebleau. In 1870, 26 paintings by Nicolae Grigorescu were featured during the Exhibition of Living Artists in Bucharest. On that occasion, he received the golden medal for The Portrait of the Grand Năsturel Herescu."
After Grigorescu became a well established painter, being well known for his talent and innovative spirit, he let himself carried away by two other big passions: travelling and collecting art objects. In 1873-1874, he embarked on a long study travel across Europe that took him to Italy and Austria and then back to Romania via Greece and Constantinople. Here is curator Alina Apostol:
"From the bazaar in Constantinople, upon returning from Italy, he purchased several Turkish objects, with the intention of painting them and he kept all those objects for the rest of his life. When the house in Câmpina was completed, he laid out a Turkish corner. He also painted those objects, creating a work titled 'Turkish Interior'. On the right side of the painting, the artist painted all those objects to the smallest detail, and left only some colourful brush touches on the left side, as the painting was intended as a gesture of defiance against all those saying his paintings seemed incomplete or unfinished."
During the Independence War of 1877-1878, Nicolae Grigorescu was a frontline painter, alongside other artists. It was during that period that he painted The Infantry Man and Convoy of Turkish Prisoners. The painter's style had already reached maturity and it was categorised as realistic, with Impressionist influences. In late 19th century, Grigorescu discovered Prahova Valley, where he opened three studios, in the localities of Posada and Câmpina. The building, which now houses the Memorial House, is his last studio, says Alina Apostol:
"He built it after his own blueprints, between 1901 and 1904, when he moved in, with his family. Between 1904 and 1907, the artist seldom left Câmpina and the surroundings, as he chose to paint extensively in the villages around. This is the last and distinctive period in the artist's activity that started in 1897, when rural themes and pastoral scenes are prevailing in his works. He painted many works during that period, when he started exhibiting an increasing number of paintings. Actually, he exhibited hundreds of works a year."
After Nicolae Grigorescu passed away in July 1907, the house became his family's property. It was severely damaged during the war and, following restoration works in the 1950s, it became a Memorial House. The personal objects that are now exhibited in the museum have been purchased, for the most part, from the family. The paintings have been purchased from various collectors and the museum now has some of the most valuable and emblematic works of Nicolae Grigorescu.
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