The so many-colored landscapes of Dobruja have always attracted artists, fascinated by the intense light, specific to this region, either because they were searching for the sunny banks of the Danube river or the shores of the sea or because the Oriental vividness of the settlements and towns in Dobruja was a great draw for them. Nowadays we can admire their impressions painted with subtlety and great skill in their works of art, so valuable for the Romanian fine arts. The Art Museum
The Institute for Ecomuseum Research in Tulcea
The Art Museum of the Institute for Ecomuseum Research in Tulcea is hosted by a beautiful edifice included in the architectural heritage, built in neo-classic style.
The building was constructed between 1863 and 1865 and was the Administrative Palace of Tulcea sanjak (administrative unit of the Ottoman Empire), then called the Pasha's manor house. After Dobruja became part of Romania in 1878, it hosted the Tulcea prefect's office, the county law court, the bailiff's house, and the court of jury. Between 1950 and 1970 it was the Regional People's Council for Tulcea and since August 23rd, 1982, it has hosted the Art Museum.
The Art Museum of Tulcea is proud to be the repository of an important heritage that has been steadily growing since 1972, especially during the last fifteen years: from 4365 works of art at the end of 1991 to 7724 pieces today. There are seven collections, as follows:
· the modern and contemporary painting collection · the modern and contemporary sculpture collection · the collection of icons from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries · the modern and contemporary graphic arts collection · the engravings collection, unique in Romania · the collection of Oriental decorative art from the 18th and 19th centuries · the collection of decorative art from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries The true gem is the collection of paintings that consists of some of the most valuable works of Romanian fine art.
The museum exhibits works of art of great national and international value, grouped under the title Dobruja in the Romanian fine art. These may arouse the envy of other great museums but, at the same time, they are the reason for the cooperation among institutions, when it comes to taking part in important national and international exhibitions with works of art of the Romanian avant-garde from the interwar period: Victor Brauner, M. H. Maxy, Ion Theodorescu Sion, Olga Greceanu, Petre Iorgulescu Yor, Ion Ţuculescu. The Dobruja landscape proves the existence of the Black Sea school, formed in the interwar period by great names of Romanian art, such as Petraşcu, Tonitza, Ştefan Dimitrescu, Şirato, Steriadi, Ghiaţă, Dărăscu, Theodorescu Sion, Bunescu, Ştefan Popescu, Iorgulescu Yor, Vasile Popescu, Cecilia Cuţescu Storck, Samuel Mutzner and others. This period is chronologically preceded by works of art by the great painters from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century: Theodor Aman, Nicolae Grigorescu, Ion Andreescu, Ştefan Luchian, George Demetrescu Mirea, Sava Henţia, Nicolae Vermont.
The core of this collection belongs undoubtedly to the avant-garde period that appeared as a movement of protest against the forms of the traditional art, leading to new currents: cubism, constructivism, abstractionism, surrealism, represented by painters such as Hans Mattis Teutsch, Max Herman Maxy, Marcel Iancu, Corneliu Mihailescu, and crowned with the 14 works (10 paintings and 4 works of graphics) signed by the world-famous Victor Brauner.
The exhibition ends with the contemporary period, represented by Corneliu Baba, Henry Catargi, Iulian Olariu, Ana Asvadurova and Alexandru Ciucurencu, born in Tulcea and a school founder.
by Marian Mocanu
