Painter Nicolae Grigorescu

Nicolae Grigorescu was the first Romanian painter to enjoy international recognition.

Christine Leșcu, 14.10.2017, 14:24

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.

rd collaboration, after the 2014 and 2016 editions, which included
professional literary events for the purpose of promoting cultural diversity.