{"id":69781,"date":"2026-09-30T10:53:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T07:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/uncategorized-en\/the-canon-of-romanian-art-since-the-1960s-in-an-exceptional-exhibition-photo-gallery\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T10:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T07:53:15","slug":"the-canon-of-romanian-art-since-the-1960s-in-an-exceptional-exhibition-photo-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/en\/art\/the-canon-of-romanian-art-since-the-1960s-in-an-exceptional-exhibition-photo-gallery\/","title":{"rendered":"“The ‘Canon’ of Romanian Art Since the 1960s,” in an Exceptional Exhibition \/ Photo Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most important private collection of Romanian art from the period 1970\u20131990 is the one assembled by Dr. Sorin Costina, a friend of the artists Horia Bernea, \u0218tefan Bertalan, Paul Gherasim, Silvia Radu, Vasile Gorduz, Ion Grigorescu, Florin Mitroi, Ioana B\u0103tr\u00e2nu, Paul Neagu, Florin Niculiu, Georgeta N\u0103p\u0103ru\u0219, Ion Dumitriu, Constantin Flondor, and Sorin Dumitrescu\u2014whose works are on display in two galleries of the National Museum of Art of Romania.<\/p>\n

The exhibition, featuring exceptional works and titled\u201cOn Duty: The Dr. Sorin Costina Collection,\u201d<\/a>opened on September 29.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTraces of Gold,\u201d Wood, and Metal by Doru Covrig, at the Kretzulescu Halls; curated by<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Conceived as a dual exhibition held in two different buildings of the MNAR\u2014the Kretzulescu Halls of the MNAR and the Museum of Art Collections\u2014the exhibition is coordinated by Alina Petrescu, head of the Modern Romanian Art Department, and by Liliana Chiriac, Head of the Museum of Art Collections, and is curated by Erwin Kessler.<\/p>\n

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Photo: A scene from the exhibition \u201cOn Guard: The Dr. Sorin Costina Collection\u201d at the Museum of Art Collections; curated by<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Bringing together 200 of the most significant works from Dr. Sorin Costina\u2019s collection, out of approximately 1,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures, and ceramic pieces, the dual exhibition at the MNAR presents to the public the \u201ccanon\u201d of Romanian art from the 1960s onward.<\/p>\n

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Photo: \u201cApple Blossoms,\u201d 1988, by Horea Pa\u0219tina, and \u201cApple Blossom,\u201d 1985, by Mihai S\u00e2rbulescu, at the Kretzulescu Galleries; curated by<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cSorin Costina was not only a friend of the artists, but also a disciple. It wasn\u2019t just that he chose never to collect works by Nicolae Grigorescu. He was a doctor, with more or less money\u2014he probably never had to worry about money keeping him from buying art. But he didn\u2019t put his savings in a safe box, as so few collectors of modern art or established art\u2014so to speak\u2014did. There were, however, very few collectors of unestablished art. And there was also this, as I was saying, this aspect of mentorship. Costina dedicated her professional life to the town of Brad. He was the doctor in Brad. And he dedicated his other life\u2014his inner life\u2014to art,\u201d said Erwin Kessler, director of the MNAR, at the opening.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Works by Mihai S\u00e2rbulescu, in the Kretzulescu Galleries; curated by<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Established in Brad, Hunedoara County, but featuring prominent artists from Bucharest and across the country, Dr. Sorin Costina\u2019s Collection reflects a certain aspect of the Romanian art scene during the communist regime, namely the artistic hierarchy familiar to everyone at the time\u2014though never explicitly articulated by anyone \u2014always present in the background of the cultural world, dominated by official art, which Dr. Sorin Costina consistently avoided.<\/p>\n

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Photo: \u201cInterior of an Apartment Building (Static), 1971, Ion Grigorescu, Kretzulescu Galleries; curated by<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

A disciple who became a scholar<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cFrom the artists, Sorin Costina learned, first and foremost, to view art, not to buy it. And he learned the art of waiting. You\u2019ll see in many of the documents how he waited to receive the artwork. The works were promised. He was promised that a work would be created for him. It was a kind of initiation (\u2026). For this reason, his exhibition\u2014which we have now organized using part of the collection, a small selection of fewer than 200 works out of over 1,000\u2014is an exhibition that reflects his relationship with artists. We put it together by, in turn, forging connections among the artists. We are convinced that in this way, the ideal of any collection is to remain whole, complete, and to stand as a monument“, a <\/span>milestone in the history of the nation where that collector essentially left his mark,” Kessler added.<\/p>\n

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Photo: \u201cValea Tazl\u0103ului,\u201d 1979, and \u201cLandscape at V\u0103ratec,\u201d 1987, by Horia Bernea, at the Museum of Art Collections; curated by<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

What makes this collection unique is that it was curated by the artists of that very canon themselves. The Sorin Costina Collection is, in fact, a collection of Romanian art from that era as it represented itself; it is the canon constructed through the collector-disciple by the chosen artists, the protagonists and architects of their own cultural, aesthetic, and spiritual paradigm.<\/p>\n

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Photo: \u201cApples,\u201d 1984, Horia Bernea, at the Museum of Art Collections; curatorial<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The exhibition thus offers not only an overview of this canon, but also a lucid, critical examination of the beliefs, aspirations, practices, clich\u00e9s, and stylistic and ideological hybridizations that shaped Romanian art during the most critical period of communism.<\/p>\n

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Photo: \u201cLamb\u2019s Head,\u201d by Vasile Gorduz, at the Museum of Art Collections; curatorial<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cDuring that period, Dr. Costina managed to create beauty out of almost nothing. And he did this solely with the unstinting support of his friends\u2014his artist friends\u2014whose disciple he was with a dedication I have rarely encountered. And in this way, he gradually evolved from a disciple into a master. Over a fairly long period of time, Mr. Costina became the living encyclopedia of this art form. He became an expert. \u201cAnd I believe he did not do this either because he had nothing else to do or out of arrogance,\u201d emphasized the director of the MNAR.<\/p>\n

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Photo: \u201cGirl\u2019s Head,\u201d by Vasile Gorduz, at the Museum of Art Collections; curatorial<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe main body of the Costina Collection is divided into a section devoted primarily to experimentation, study, laboratory work, and neo-avant-garde artistic research (in the Kretzulescu Galleries of the MNAR) and a broad panorama of the artistic mastery with which the artists of that era sought refuge in spirituality, aestheticism, emotion, and (self-)irony (in the halls of the Museum of Art Collections), in order to cope with a regime that distorted beauty and restricted expression, freedom, and faith,\u201d Erwin Kessler further explained.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSelf-Portrait,\u201d by Silvia Radu, at the Museum of Art Collections; curated by<\/p><\/div>\n

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Works by Horia Bernea at the Museum of Art Collections; curated by<\/p><\/div>\n

The exhibition can be visited in the Kretzulescu Halls from September 30 through November 22. Entrance is via Valter M\u0103r\u0103cineanu Street, on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
\nThe section on display in Building B of the Art Collections Museum can be visited from October 2 through February 16, 2027, on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
\nAdmission to the exhibition requires a ticket costing 32 lei, valid for both venues.<\/p>\n

Main photo: \u201cNude\u201d by Horia Bernea, \u201cSkirt\u201d by Ion Grigorescu, and \u201cField\u201d by Florin Mitroi; curated by<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The most important private collection of Romanian art from the period 1970\u20131990 is the one assembled by Dr. Sorin Costina, a friend of the artists Horia Bernea, \u0218tefan Bertalan, Paul Gherasim, Silvia Radu, Vasile Gorduz, Ion Grigorescu, Florin Mitroi, Ioana […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":69239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6965],"tags":[7121,7048,7158],"class_list":{"0":"post-69781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-art","8":"tag-collection","9":"tag-exhibition","10":"tag-mnar-en"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/curatorial.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}