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Short history
The boyar Dinicu Golescu builds between
1812 and 1820 a house of impressive size for those times. During the time
of Alexandru Ioan Cuza the building will be transformed in official
residence and during the reign of Carol I it will have the status of royal
winter residence. The king decorates the palace according to his taste and
he is as well preoccupied with creating a painting collection which is the
today's nucleus of the European Art Gallery. During the reigns of kings
Ferdinand and Carol II the palace will suffer important changes. Starting
with 1948 the decision to open a museum inside the palace was put in
practice.
Romania's leading art museum was founded
in 1948 to house the former Royal Collection, which included Romanian and
European art dating from the 15th to the 20th century. Located in the
neoclassical former Royal Palace, set amid a wealth of historic buildings
such as the Romanian Athenaeum, Kretzulescu Church and the Hotel Athenee
Palace-Hilton, the museum currently exhibits over 100,000 works divided
into two major sections. Its National Gallery features the works of major
Romanian artists, including Grigorescu, Aman and Andreescu. There is also
a roomful of early Brancusi sculpture, such as you won’t find anywhere
else, demonstrating how he left his master, Rodin, behind in a more
advanced form of expression. If you
only have time to visit one gallery, make it the Romanian one. It is the
most complete collection of Romanian works of art in the country and quite
possibly, the world.
Permanent Galleries
The European Art Gallery
The European Gallery, comprising some 15
rooms, displays little-known art gems from the likes of El Greco, Monet,
Rembrandt, Renoir, Breughels (father and son) Cezanne and Rubens.
From the late Gothic and the Renaissance, continuing with Mannerism and
Caravagism, up to the Baroque and Rococo patterns, Italian painting is
represented by works of the masters Domenico Veneziano, Jacopo Bassano,
Bronzino, Jacopo Tintoretto, Luca Giordano, Orazio Gentileschi, Jacopo
Amigoni.
The German art collection illustrates the German version of the
international Gothic or the north Renaissance pattern due to remarkable
works by Bartholomäus Zeitblom, Lucas Cranach the Elder and Hans von
Aachen.
Religious fervour and burning temperament characterize the Spanish
paintings by El Greco, Francisco Zurbarán, Alonso Cano, Antonio Pereda.
Realism, the mystery of the light and shade or the epic picturesque of the
scenes can be found in the works of Flemish artists (Bartholomäus
Spranger, Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Pieter Paul Rubens, David Ryckaert
III) and Dutch artists (Rembrandt Harmensz, Van Rijn, Jan Davidsz, De Heem).
The French art halls are spanned by works from the 16th - 19th centuries.
Important artists include: J.B. Oudry, Nicolas de Largilliere, Gaspar
Dughet, Joseph Parrocel, next to Claude Monet, Paul Signac, Alfred Sisley.
The sculpture collection includes remarkable creations by Auguste Rodin,
Antoine Bourdelle, Jules Dalou and Camille Claudel.
The Romanian Medieval Art Gallery
Remarkable are the fresco
fragments (those from Curtea de Arges [Arges Court] - 1526) and the icons
(Wailing the Lord) - the 15th 16th centuries, Saints Simeon and Sava -
1522 - 1523, both from the monastery of Curtea de Arges, the Virgin with
Child surrounded by prophets - the second half of the 16th century,
Pangarati monastery), embroideries (Epitaphs of Cozia Monastery - 1395
-1396 and of Neamt Monastery - 1437, the Air of "St. Nicholas of
Radauti" Church - about 1493, the Stoles of Tismana Monastery - early
16th century), manuscripts (the Four Gospels, achieved in a Byzantine
workshop, whose text dates from the 12th century, the Four Gospels of
Gavril Uric - 1436 - 1437, the Four Gospels of monk Dimitrie Gramaticul -
1512), gold and silver items (the censer from Tismana - 1508-1512, the
shrine from Hurezi - 1691 -1692, the precious metal vessel with artistic
incrustations from Precista Monastery in Bacau - 1491 - 1496, the
procession cross from Slatina Monastery - 1558), wooden and stone
sculptures (the imperial doors from the church in Cârligul (Bacau) -
early 16th century, the rib with the coats of arms of Moldavia from
"Three Hierachs" in Jassy, 1637 - 1638). The gallery includes a
Treasure to which three halls are dedicated, where one can see secular and
religious items out of precious metals and stones, jewels and costume
accessories from the 14th - 19th centuries.
The Romanian Modern Art Gallery
It reconstructs due to the 700 paintings
and sculptures the path of Romanian art from early 19th century -
illustrated by the departure from the religious art of Byzantine
inspiration - to the age of the great classics of Romanian art. The two
centuries of art, revealed by numerous artistic trends and tendencies, are
represented both by famous names, relevant for the entire Romanian
culture, and by less known outstanding artists included for the first time
in the permanent exhibition of the National Gallery. The tradition of
portraits and the formalism of the "painters of thin" are
illustrated in the Gallery by the works of Anton Chladek, Giovanni
Schiavoni, Iosef August Schoefft, while Theodor Aman' and Gheorghe
Tattarescu's paintings show how these two artists gave Romanian painting a
new interpretation of academicism and neoclassicism. Outstanding
personalities of national art like Nicolae Grigorescu, Ioan Andreescu,
Stefan Luchian, Nicolae Tonitza, Theodor Pallady, Gheorghe Petrascu,
Constantin Brâncusi, Dimitrie Paciurea, Corneliu Baba, Alexandru
Ciucurencu, Ion Tuculescu, many other artists complete the general
configuration of the represented period, including: Iosif Iser, Camil
Ressu, Francisc Sirato, Stefan Dumitrescu, Ion Jalea, Jean Al. Steriadi,
Nicolae Darascu, Samuel Mützner, Petre Iorgulescu Yor, Dimitrie Gheata,
Rudolf Schweitzer-Cumpana, Lucian Grigorescu, etc. The constant tendency
of Romanian culture to intertwine with European trends is revealed in the
Romanian modern art exhibition by the vanguard works of Victor Brauner,
Marcel Iancu, Hans Mattis-Teutsch, M. H. Maxy, Arthur Segal. One of the
halls of the gallery is dedicated exclusively to the sculptor Constantin
Brâncusi and gathers youth and maturity works, such as: Ordeal, Child's
Head, Sleep, Prometheus, Prayer, Danaid, Silence of the Earth.
Address: Calea Victoriei, 49-53, 70101
Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday
10.00 a.m. - 6.00 p.m. (October - April)
11.00 a.m.- 7.00 p.m. (May - September)
Closed: Monday, Tuesday, January 1st, Easter Day, December 25th
The ticket desks and
the museum shop close 30 min. prior to the closing of the museum.
Information: Telephone: +40 21 314 81 19;+40 21 313 30 30
Guided tours are available in English and French. Booking is necessary.
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