Art Safari returns this spring with an edition marking a decade of existence. In the foreground, the great masters of Romanian art: Eustațiu Stoenescu, Grigorescu, Tonitza, Luchian, Pallady, Baba, Petrașcu, Mützner, Dărăscu, Ressu, Iser. The new season presents 5 art exhibitions, which can be seen between March 8 and July 28, at the Dacia-Romania Palace on Lipscani.
Art Safari Secrets and Treasures: A new edition opens from March 8
“The Art Safari experience will be full of secrets and treasures! You will discover, starting on March 8, the peaks and treasures of Romanian art, a secret museum, a little-known master who was successful from Craiova to New York, but also the History of Romania in 100 portraits. We thank all the partners and museums that have been with us and supported our efforts from 2014 until today.” – Ioana Ciocan, CEO Art Safari and commissioner of Romania at the Venice Art Biennale.
“Secret Museum”
curator: Lelia Rus Pîrvan, exhibition made in partnership with the Constanța Art Museum, with the support of the Constanța County Council and the Topalu City Hall
The commune of Topalu, Constanța county, has preserved since 1960 a treasure unparalleled in Europe: the “Dinu and Sevasta Vintilă” Museum, which houses one of the most important collections of interwar Romanian art, including masterpieces by Nicolae Grigorescu, Nicolae Tonitza, Ștefan Luchian , Theodor Pallady, Corneliu Baba, Gheorghe Petrașcu, Samuel Mützner, Alexandru Ciucurencu, Nicolae Darăscu, Camil Ressu, Iosif Iser and Constantin Piliuță.
“Child's head”, Nicolae Tonitza
The Topalu Art Museum is set up in the parental home of the late collector doctor Gheorghe Dinu Vintilă (1898-1978), close to the great Romanian artists, which he donated, together with all the works collected throughout his life, in the memory of his parents and his native commune, in 1960. The “Dinu and Sevasta Vintilă” collection consists of 228 works.
The “Dinu and Sevasta Vintilă” Museum in Topalu is the only art institution of its kind in the countryside in the whole of Europe. A fragment of the country's history, rendered through a collection of art of great sophistication. Art Safari's 'Secret Museum' is the first ever external exhibition of Topalu's impressive collection.
“Eustațiu Stoenescu. The portraitist of the aristocracy”
curator: Angelia Iacob, scenographer: Cosmin Florea, exhibition made with the support of the Embassy of the United States of America in Romania and in partnership with the Bucharest Municipal Museum and the National Art Museum of Romania
Eustațiu Stoenescu (1884, Craiova –1957, New York) was an artist with a remarkable international career and a vast body of work, insufficiently known after the communist period, whose authorities erased him from the art history books. He was considered, in his time, among the most refined portraitists in Europe, but he also painted, in local tradition, landscapes or still lifes, all impressive for their plastic value.
“Breakfast”, Eustațiu Stoenescu PHOTO MNAR collection
The Romanian master was rewarded with numerous prizes and distinctions, and his works, especially portraits, ended up in significant international collections, in France, Italy, USA, Great Britain, Belgium, Holland or Switzerland. He created portraits representing King Ferdinand, King Charles II, King Michael I, Queen Elena and many other crowned heads of Europe, but also many other personalities of the interwar period, from aristocrats and people of world to athletes and governors.
He participated in three editions of the Venice Biennale, including the one in 1938, when the Romanian Pavilion was inaugurated in the Giardini della Biennale. The exhibition at Art Safari reveals the complex personality of this valuable artist, who has enjoyed success both at home and abroad, especially in Paris and New York.
“History of Romania in 100 portraits”
curator: Cornel Ilie, exhibition made in partnership with the National History Museum of Romania, with a design by Diana Nicolaie
Kings, queens, rulers, politicians, athletes, people of culture and science, as well as other notable personalities are brought together in an anniversary exhibition. The portrait has always been a witness of history. Over time, celebrities and personalities have been immortalized for posterity, from providential people such as Nicolae Bălcescu and Tudor Vladimirescu, to notorious athletes, such as Gheorghe Hagi and Nadia Comăneci. The portraits in this exhibition mostly come from museum collections, from that of the National History Museum of Romania to that of the National Military Museum, and are mostly exhibited for the first time.
“Portrait of Nicolae Bălcescu”, Gheorghe Tattarescu
“The workshops of Pangratti”
curator: Simona Vilau
Picture of a cultural elite, Ermil Pangratti Street has concentrated Romania's most valuable artistic talents for 50 years. Both an investment of the system and a gallery of merits, the workshops in Pangratti street represented the creative place of important contemporary artists, marked in the public consciousness, but also embraced by the system and the leadership of the Union of Plastic Artists from Romania. These spaces had multiple functions: creative oases, school for neophytes, bohemian center, “saleroom” for collectors, thanks of the system to official artists, and reward for artistic recognition.
Among the great artists who created here are Corneliu Baba, Ion Nicodim, Ovidiu Maitec, Paul Vasilescu, Gheorghe Iliescu-Călinești, Vasile Gorduz, Alin Gheorghiu, Sultana Maitec, Georgeta Năpăruș, etc.
Having as its nucleus the discrete collection of Ruxandra Garofeanu, historian and art critic, one of the important figures of cultural life in Romania for the last 50 years, the exhibition highlights the creation of important personalities of Romanian postmodern art, who worked in the workshops of the Union of Plastic Artists from Ermil Pangratti street, and partly restores a historical and visually important route, in a style assumed, adapted and constructed kaleidoscopically, specific to Ruxandra Garofeanu, their former great friend and supporter.
“Palace Gardens” – the first temporary exhibition of the season Secrets and Treasures, March 8 – April 14
The flowers of Romanian art, in the vision of the great masters Luchian, Grigorescu, Tonitza, Aman, as well as Queen Maria. The most beautiful and valuable flowers will be re-planted for an exhibition, temporarily, in the gardens of the Palace of Dacia-Romania on Lipscani: roses and pubes, chrysanthemums, anemones, poppies and other wildflowers, captured in static natures, in bouquets, in parks and in the gardens.
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Children's workshops and special tours
Children are also welcome at the creative workshops and personalized guided tours, as part of Art Safari Kinder.
The new edition debuts with 3 special events that include guided tours, live music and champagne bubbles, dedicated to students (Students Art Night Out), seniors (Seniors Meeting at Art Safari) and Ladies Night Art Out, a special event on March 8. Tickets for the 3 events are available here: https://www.artsafari.ro/project/night-tours/.
Art Safari Program (March 8-July 28, 2024)
• Thursday-Sunday – 12:00-21:00 (last entry – 20:30)
• Tickets: artsafari.ro or directly from the entrance
• Palatul Dacia-Romania, street Lipscani, no. 18-20, Bucharest