The building now sheltering the Museum of Art of Braşov was put up at the beginning of the 20th century to be used by the German Craftsmen?s Association. The ground floor halls house some temporary exhibitions. The National Gallery, which is located upstairs, displays works signed by the most representative Romanian modern and contemporary artists. The basement shelters the collection of decorative art.
Nicolae Grigorescu Collection
The first two halls upstairs show the collection of paintings signed by Nicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907) , the second in size in Romania. Grigorescu is considered to be the founder of the modern Romanian painting. Receptive to every new trend, he was influenced by the school of Barbizon and, partially, by the impressionism, and he perfectly followed the latest innovations in the European art. He was fond of landscapes and introduced in the Romanian art the plein-air painting. He had a particular interest in painting scenes taken from the rural universe. Full of light, dominated by bright colors, his works irradiate a cheerful, optimistic mood. 34 canvas are exhibited, some of them on their original frames.
Influences and Originality
Ion Andreescu (1850-1882) and Ştefan Luchian (1868-1916) are other two classic artists in the Romanian painting who, although being influenced by Grigorescu, succeeded in making their own way in art. Andreescu paintings have many of Grigorescu?s themes but he distinguishes himself with a sober, melancholic tones. Luchian?s works, revealing the artist?s contact with the postimpressionism and with the decorative manner of the Art Nouveau style, show a deeply original synthesis of these schools.
Itinerated located Exhibition
In the Museum?s deposits there is a valuable patrimony, consisting in 3.800 works, mostly paintings and graphics for the rest. Twice a month, the grand floor hall houses concerts, recitals, books launches. Arta Hall, located on 12, Muresenilor Street, houses local exhibitions every 2-3 weeks.
The management intends to organize an itinerated exhibition of 100 valuable graphic works to be exhibit in other museums. This way, the countless works kept in the museum?s deposits for lack of space would be contemplated by the public.
The Decorative Art
The exhibition mainly illustrates the evolution of the porcelain and glassware art. There are exhibited here some porcelain works representative for the most important European centers in the 18th ? 19th centuries. The Far East is represented by porcelain vases from the 19th and 20th centuries. The Venetian and Bohemia glass works are displayed next to the Art Nouveau works and to the Transylvanian folk glass works created in the 18th and 19th centuries in the workshops from: Porumbacu, Avrig, Padurea Neagra and Brasov. The exhibition also contains Art Nouveau stained glass and the works of some artists from Brasov: Aurel Bordenache (1902-1987), Ştefan Bilciu (1927-1987), Imola Jakabos Olsefszky (born in 1943), etc.
Contact
21 Eroilor Avenue, Brasov
Phone +40.268.477.286; 0368 409 049
Fax +40.268.475.172
E-mail: mab@rdsbv.ro
Museum program: every day 10-18 (closed on Monday)
Arta Hall program: every day 11-17 (closed on Monday).
