Centre for Romanian Studies

Centre for Romanian Studies header image 1

Entries Tagged as 'Art Exhibitions'

People I met: Jim EDE – Cambridge Art Aficionado and Collector

April 18th, 2017 · Comments Off on People I met: Jim EDE – Cambridge Art Aficionado and Collector · Art Collections, Art Exhibitions, Education, Famous People, OPINION, PEOPLE

It was a window open to a completely new world of peace, tranquillity and timelessness, all achieved through the marriage of beautiful things, put together with the greatest sensitivity in a living space, which was a Home. By going there we learned a new way of life, a new way of love and, in the process, our spirit became richer.

[Read more →]

Tags:······

PEOPLE I MET – Nathalie DUMITRESCO & Alexandre ISTRATI

March 24th, 2017 · Comments Off on PEOPLE I MET – Nathalie DUMITRESCO & Alexandre ISTRATI · Art Collections, Art Exhibitions, Diary, Diaspora, Famous People, PEOPLE, Uncategorized

Looking back at the dinner in Brancusi’s old atelier, the memories are like a replay of a magic dream. In the summer evening the narrow lane of Impasse Ronsin, now completely vanished, was deserted. As I rang the bell, I remember I was not a little surprised, that before I was let in, Istrati looked up and down the lane, I presume to check if I may have been shadowed by some unwanted troll… For the uninformed reader one should point out that Paris of the ‘60s to late 1980s was replete with cloak and dagger stories, which would have made Agatha Christies’ stories a child’s play: indeed, one could not be too careful.

[Read more →]

Tags:············

BLOUSE ROUMAINE: Daughters of BESSARABIA – Milita PATRASCU (b. 1883, Nisporeni, MOLDOVA – d. 1976, Bucharest, ROMANIA)

June 26th, 2016 · Comments Off on BLOUSE ROUMAINE: Daughters of BESSARABIA – Milita PATRASCU (b. 1883, Nisporeni, MOLDOVA – d. 1976, Bucharest, ROMANIA) · Art Collections, Art Exhibitions, Books, Communist Prisons, Famous People, History, International Media, PEOPLE, POLITICAL DETENTION / DISSENT, quotations

Milita Pàtrascu (b. 31 December 1883, Nisporeni, Bessarabia – d. 1 February 1976, Bucharest): Sculptor, pupil of Constantin Brâncusi, graphic artist/illustrator, member of the 1930s-1940s Avant-Garde Group Arta Nouà Movement
Arrested in 1959 by Romania’s Communist regime but saved by writer and politician Mihail Sadoveanu and kept instead under house arrest.

[Read more →]

Tags:··················

Collection of Antique Prints and Engravings (16thc – 19th c), (Part II)

November 2nd, 2013 · Comments Off on Collection of Antique Prints and Engravings (16thc – 19th c), (Part II) · Art Collections, Art Exhibitions, Diaspora, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, Reviews

From a prima facie evidence it seems that this collection is not matched by similar efforts in the public domain, either in Romania, or elsewhere. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, also has not got this material although it covers immediately adjacent areas, such as the Levant and the Middle East, through the recent acquisition of a collection from a retired Shell executive.
The late Professor’s Oprescu’s collection, given to the Romanian Academy Prints Department, has some beautiful examples of watercolours and sketches, some by Count Prezziosi, but does not overlap with our prints. Prince Nicholas of Romania’s collection of maps has been dispersed soon after the Second World War. Sadly “Ceausescu’s surrogate “Muzeul Colectiilor” of Calea Victoriei, in Bucharest has relegated an important inter-war collection of historic engravings, donated by a private collector, to a “deposit” in a damp basement, sadly forgotten and most certainly ruined: such is the wisdom of our Wallachian luminaries, otherwise, known as “boierii mintii”(…).

[Read more →]

Tags:···········

Romanian Musings on Bela Bartok’s Memorial in London SW7

October 10th, 2011 · Comments Off on Romanian Musings on Bela Bartok’s Memorial in London SW7 · Art Exhibitions, Diaspora, OPINION, PEOPLE, Reviews, Uncategorized

Bela Bartok was born in the Romanian Banat region, at Sannicolau Mare, the son of a Hungarian father and a Serbian Mother. As one would expect of a sensitive child born in this ethnic mosaic of the Habsburg Empire, young Bartok like his central European contemporary composers, drew his inspiration from the rich ethnic music of Central Europe: the composer’s “Romanian Dances” have long been included in the International musical repertoire and in the memory of the cognoscenti, compositions which reflect indirectly the international currency of Romanian compositions, the same pool from which Georges Enesco or Valentin Lipatti have drawn their inspiration.
The life of Hungarian sculptor Imre Varga (b. 1923) reflects, as one would expect, the historical and political meanders of his country, during the 20th century. By comparison, this presents many commonalities with his Romanian counterparts, who showed an equal enthusiasm at adapting to changing political circumstances, first during the right-wing nationalist dictatorship, followed by an anti-Stalinist war in the East, on the side of Germany, only to heap praise on a “liberating” Soviet Army and finally to end up as a member of the European Union: not exactly an easy sailing, during stormy times, when many contemporary artists either wrecked their careers, or chose instead to take the heavy road of exile, as was the case of our subject, whose memorial has just been erected in South Kensington.

[Read more →]

Tags:

Ganduri Romanesti despre Bella Bartok la Londra

October 9th, 2011 · Comments Off on Ganduri Romanesti despre Bella Bartok la Londra · Art Exhibitions, Diaspora, OPINION, PEOPLE, Uncategorized

Dezvelirea statuii compozitorului Maghiar Bella Bartok in cartierul South Kensigton din Sudvestul Londrei reprezinta o recunoastere in plus, nu numai a celebrului compozitor de talie universala, dar si un exemplu de promovare inteligenta a valorilor nationale in lume. Acest act ofera un moment de reflectie si poate comparativ cu modul Romanesc de promovare a valorilor nationale, pe plan international, de cumetriile Institutului Cultural Roman, Bucuresti.

Ei, o sa ma intrebati, poate, “ce are sula cu prefectura”? ce legatura aleatorica ar exista intre aceste idei, intre astfel de paralele si implicit de indemnuri?

Bella Bartok si George Enescu
Fara a ma pierde in explicatii alambicate, doar in cateva randuri, ar trebui sa amintim ca Bella Bartok s-a nascut in Banatul Romanesc, la Sannicolau Mare, ditr-un tata maghiar si o mama de etnie Sarba. Cum este si firesc, pentru un tanar cu evidente sensibilitati fata de mediul in care s-a nascut, Bartok s-a inspirat, asa cum au facut-o contemporanii si predecesorii sai din sec XIX, din fondul muzicii etnice din Sudestul Europei: “Dansurile Romanesti” ale compozitorului au intrat de mult in repertoriul mondial si implicit in memoria si sensibilitatea publicului civilizat si avizat, sensibilitate care reflecta indirect valorile muzicii Romanesti – aceeasi sursa din care s-au inspirat si contemporanii sai, George Enescu sau Dinu Lipatti.

Este poate semnificativ ca atat Bartok cat si Enescu s-au exilat din cauza schimbarilor politice survenite ca urmare al celui de al doilea razboi mondial: Bartok s-a destzarat datorita fascizarii Ungariei lui Horthy, ca sa se stabileasca in Statele Unite, unde, in ciuda asistentei financiare si artistice primite, si-a trait cu dificultate exilul, unde a murit dupa cinci ani. In aceasta perioada de destzarare a compus doar doua lucrari: Concertul pentru Orchestra si o sonata de vioara pentru Yehudi Menuhin – violonistul care a fost scolit de Enescu…
George Enescu, impreuna cu sotia lui si-au parasit tara dupa razboi, ca sa-si traiasca ultimii ani de viata la Paris, intr-o perioada intunecata a diasporei romanesti. Aceasta din urma a fost bantuita de recriminari, suspiciuni, lovituri sub centura si contraziceri – cu efecte inevitabile negative. Aici, in Parisul postbelic, bratul omniprezent al simpatizantilor francezi ai Stalinismului, cat si coada sobolanului securist au fost proactive, asa cum au suferit, din experienta proprie, Monica Lovinescu, Eugene Ionesco, Virgil Gheorghiu, Horia Vintila, s.a., indurand persecutia impinsa pana chiar la procesul vrajitaorelor.
Poate ar fi interesant de a reflecta mai adanc asupra efectului exilului asupra acestor compozitori contemporani, Bartok si Enescu.

[Read more →]

Tags:·······

Maria MESTEROU – Retrospectiva Franta (14 Oct. 2011 – 27 Nov. 2011)

September 21st, 2011 · Comments Off on Maria MESTEROU – Retrospectiva Franta (14 Oct. 2011 – 27 Nov. 2011) · Art Exhibitions, Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE

Maria MESTEROU – Retrospectiva Pictura, Dreux, Franta (14 Oct. 2011 – 27 Nov. 2011)
L’univers de Maria Mestérou est un monde fait de mystérieux objets. L’espace qui les contient communique souvent avec l’étendue des horizons éloignés, de la mer. L’étrange charge que portent ces objets transfigure aussi le paysage, le plein air dans lequel ils sont placés. Ils font parfois la place à un personnage non moins mystérieux, sachant partager leur silence et entretenir le dialogue avec celui qui regarde. Ce ne sont pas des natures mortes dans le sens usuel du terme, c’est une insolite figuration. Peut-être la recherche d’un genre de dimension perdue ou le surnaturel trouverait forme dans le naturel, lui transférant une lumière d’attente, l’attente de la métamorphose finale. Les objets sont réunis pour un moment précis, d’où jaillit une beauté sereine. Leur rayonnement transcende leur apparence et prend des lueurs cosmiques. Le sensible sert le transcendantal dans un échange avec le spectateur, et cet échange est déjà de l’ordre de l’affectif.
Valérian Bryn

[Read more →]

Tags:···········

Carmen Sylva, Elena Vacarescu and the British Composer Sir Hubert Parry

May 28th, 2011 · 2 Comments · Art Exhibitions, Books, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Reviews, Translations

This beautiful Queen Anne house @ nr 17 Kensington Square has the largest staircase in the square. Kensington Square, 17, was the home of Hubert Parry. His eldest daughter inherited the house in 1932. She was married to Lord Ponsonby, leader of the Labour opposition in the House of Lords. In 1936 Lord Ponsonby produced a detailed and well-researched history of Kensington Square.

A prolific musician, composer and from 1885 Director of the Royal Academy of Music who nursed a whole generation of British composers, Hubert Parry is much forgotten today except for his piece sang by riotous crowds at the last night of the Proms set on Blake’s poem “Jerusalem”. He composed chamber music, oratorios and symphonies.
On a more exotic note he set to music “The Soldier’s Tent” a poem by Carmen Sylva, Queen of Romania and Helene Vacaresco, which at the time of the Boer War was greatly en vogue raising the spirits of the British public at home.

The Soldier’s Tent
The Queen of Romania wrote the poem “The Soldier’s tent” put to music by Sir Herbert Parry – a song popular during the Boer War

[Read more →]

Tags:······

“Carmen Sylva – reine Elisabeth de Roumanie” (Gabriel Badea-Paun) aux Editions “Via Romana”, 2011

May 27th, 2011 · Comments Off on “Carmen Sylva – reine Elisabeth de Roumanie” (Gabriel Badea-Paun) aux Editions “Via Romana”, 2011 · Art Exhibitions, Diary, Diaspora, PEOPLE, Reviews

Paris: GABRIEL BADEA-PAÜN signe sa biographie “Carmen Sylva Reine Elisabeth de Roumanie” Editions Via Romana
Né en 1973 à Sinaïa, Roumanie, auteur de plusieurs ouvrages de prestige sur l’histoire de l’art, Monsieur Badea-Paun est agrégé de L’université Paris IV Sorbonne, DEA en histoire de l’art, avec un mémoire sur Les portraits de la Famille de Hohenzollern par Philip de Laszlo. Sa thèse à Paris IV Sorbonne sous la direction du Professeur Bruno Foucart a eu pour sujet Antonio de La Gandara, le catalogue raisonné de l’œuvre peint et dessiné.

Monsieur Gabriel Badea-Paun est éagalement l’auteur de plusieures monographies ainsi que d’articles de l’histoire de l’art dans des revues de specialité en France et en Roumanie. Son dernier ouvrage sur la Reine Elisabeth de Roumanie, vient de parraitre en France aux editions Via Romana.

[Read more →]

Tags:········

Maria MESTEROU (France) artist painter – her work on the conservation of Orthodox images

May 26th, 2011 · 7 Comments · Art Exhibitions, Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, Reviews

Il m’est arrivé d’avoir à faire à une vaste gamme de techniques picturales, allant de la classique peinture sur toile, passant par celles sur plaques de cuivre et sur bois, jusqu’à la détrempe à l’œuf sur tissu non tendu sur châssis, comme ce fut le cas pour un très ancien voile grec couvert de beaucoup de scènes de l’Ancien et du Nouveau Testaments, dominées par deux grandes icônes de la Vierge et de Jésus Christ. Les deux premières images montrent le voile avant la restauration, avec, cependant, les visages de la Vierge et du Christ nettoyés. On voit ensuite son aspect final:

[Read more →]

Tags:········