The first Romanian painter to enjoy international
\nrecognition and one of the most important founders of modern Romanian painting,
\nNicolae Grigorescu, was born on May 15, 1838, in Pitaru village, D\u00e2mbovi\u0163a
\nCounty. However, his name is closely linked to the city of C\u00e2mpina, on Prahova Valley, where the
\nartist lived his last years. The house he owned there became, after the
\npainter’s death, the Nicolae Grigorescu Memorial House, a museum that reflects
\nthe biography and activity of the painter who, at only 10 years of age, became
\nthe apprentice of the Czech miniaturist painter, Anton Chladek. Curator Alina
\nApostol has more on Nicolae Grigorescu’s career as a fine artist:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
After a short period of apprenticeship, he started
\npainting small icons, which he used to sell at boroughs. When he was 15-16
\nyears old he embraced mural painting, but he also painted on canvas and made
\nfrescoes for several monasteries in Prahova County and in Moldavia. In 1861 he
\nleft for Paris, to continue his painting studies in the French capital city, at
\nthe suggestion of a prominent literary figure and politician, Mihail Kog\u0103lniceanu, whom he had met at
\nAgapia monastery in Moldavia. His expenses were covered by the Romanian state.
\nIn Paris, he took an exam at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and started working at
\nSebastien Cornu’s art studio. Meanwhile, he tried his hand, by making copies of
\ngreat works by grand painting masters, at the Louvre. Some works dating back to
\nthat period are now on display in our museum. He discovered the Barbizon School
\nand got to know the French painters who had already settled there, such as
\nJean-Francois Millet. Our museum also exhibits several works from that
\nperiod such as Sunset in Barbizon,
\nGlade in Barbizon, and The Forest of Fontainebleau.
\nIn 1870, 26 paintings by Nicolae Grigorescu were featured during the Exhibition
\nof Living Artists in Bucharest. On that occasion, he received the golden medal
\nfor The Portrait of the Grand
\nN\u0103sturel Herescu.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
After Grigorescu
\nbecame a well established painter, being well known for his talent and
\ninnovative spirit, he let himself carried away by two other big passions:
\ntravelling and collecting art objects. In 1873-1874, he embarked on a long
\nstudy travel across Europe that took him to Italy and Austria and then back to
\nRomania via Greece and Constantinople. Here is curator Alina Apostol:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
From the bazaar in
\nConstantinople, upon returning from Italy, he purchased several Turkish
\nobjects, with the intention of painting them and he kept all those objects for
\nthe rest of his life. When the house in C\u00e2mpina
\nwas completed, he laid out a Turkish corner. He also painted those objects,
\ncreating a work titled ‘Turkish Interior’. On the right side of the painting,
\nthe artist painted all those objects to the smallest detail, and left only some
\ncolourful brush touches on the left side, as the painting was intended as a
\ngesture of defiance against all those saying his paintings seemed incomplete or
\nunfinished. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
During the Independence War of 1877-1878, Nicolae Grigorescu was a frontline
\npainter, alongside other artists. It was during that period that he painted The
\nInfantry Man and Convoy of Turkish Prisoners. The painter’s style
\nhad already reached maturity and it was categorised as realistic, with
\nImpressionist influences. In late 19th century, Grigorescu discovered Prahova Valley, where
\nhe opened three studios, in the localities of Posada and C\u00e2mpina. The building,
\nwhich now houses the Memorial House, is his last studio, says Alina Apostol:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
He built it after
\nhis own blueprints, between 1901 and 1904, when he moved in, with his family.
\nBetween 1904 and 1907, the artist seldom left C\u00e2mpina and the surroundings, as he chose to paint extensively
\nin the villages around. This is the last and distinctive period in the artist’s
\nactivity that started in 1897, when rural themes and pastoral scenes are
\nprevailing in his works. He painted many works during that period, when he
\nstarted exhibiting an increasing number of paintings. Actually, he exhibited
\nhundreds of works a year. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
After Nicolae Grigorescu passed away in July
\n1907, the house became his family’s property. It was severely damaged during
\nthe war and, following restoration works in the 1950s, it became a Memorial
\nHouse. The personal objects that are now exhibited in the museum have been
\npurchased, for the most part, from the family. The paintings have been
\npurchased from various collectors and the museum now has some of the most
\nvaluable and emblematic works of Nicolae Grigorescu.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nrd collaboration, after the 2014 and 2016 editions, which included
\nprofessional literary events for the purpose of promoting cultural diversity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nicolae Grigorescu was the first Romanian painter to enjoy international recognition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":168828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[45413],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-168827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia","tag-nicolae-grigorescu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n