Like every big city, which is also the country's capital, Bucharest is full of museums. Now I don't know what the density of museums is in big European cities, but I think it is very high, especially in the old cities of Western Europe.
Bucharest is the capital of Romania, a country on the eastern edge of Europe. For objective reasons, Romania has come late to the table of the rich and is trying to close the gap with more developed countries.
The Museum of Recent Art - MARe - is one such example of modernization in the field of art. It is the newest museum in Romania. It was opened in 2018 and is mainly dedicated to recent art from the last 50 years in Romania. Exhibitions of the most important artists in the world are also organized here.
The 1200 m2 of the building comprises 5 levels: basement - with exhibition space and auditorium, ground floor - with shop and cafeteria, 1st and 2nd floors - dedicated to the permanent collection, attic - with exhibition space, workshop space, library, and reading area; and between the levels there are three other exhibition areas, plus the museum's generous garden.Source
The most recent exhibition was dedicated to Picasso and the influence of his art on the Romanian artists of the last 50 years.
The Picasso Effect
Picasso once said... "Give me a museum and I will fill it"
... and that's exactly what happened. This exhibition filled the entire museum!
Such an event, which happens once every few decades, cannot be escaped. I bought the tickets, took two ladies with me, my wife and a good friend, and with the help of the camera embedded in my phone, I photographed as much as I could, to keep it as a memory but also to share the experience with you. With those interested in art, obviously.
For the first time, I visited this museum and I can say I was impressed by the architecture. The narrow staircases between the floors, where the feeling of claustrophobia does not arise because the outside space could be seen through the stair treads.
The Picasso Effect is an exhibition to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the painter's death. It includes 48 works by Picasso and 50 works by Romanian painters who were influenced by this great artist, one of the greatest of the twentieth century. The event is organized in partnership with the Musée National Picasso-Paris. It is the only way for most of the painting lovers in Romania (and not only, because countless tourists visiting Bucharest have chosen to see this exhibition) to see Picasso's original drawings, engravings, and paintings.
Now it's time to show you what I saw in this exhibition. This large, modern museum has a café and bistro on the ground floor, plus a garden. We had to go up to the first level of the building to see the paintings...
In the absence of a guide (it was only available for larger groups of visitors) we learned about the painter and his art from several texts written right on the walls of the exhibition.
I knew more about his rather hectic life full of women who adored him (some of them only for a short time) because these kinds of artists and personalities are, first of all, very selfish and used to take advantage of those around them. Picasso was a rather rude, arrogant, and even violent man and yet he caused a real fascination with women. I didn't know about his political sympathies and was somewhat surprised that he was an admirer of communism.
Although from the outside the building is quite large, inside, perhaps because of the stairs and the open spaces and passageways, there is little space left for exhibition rooms.
This bronze sculpture in the middle of the room is not by Picasso. It is an example of his influence on Roman artists.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find the name tag of the artist and the sculpture, no matter how hard I searched. It must exist but the fact that I was nervous and excited to see Picasso's first paintings in that room probably prevented me from paying closer attention.
Now I have to admit that Picasso's best-known works are not brought into this exhibition. It would have been difficult to do so if we took into account the costs of transport and especially insurance.
I am satisfied with what I saw. First of all, I was able to get close to the paintings of an artist who deeply influenced the art of the last century. Just as a sculptor, a friend of Picasso, influenced the sculpture of the twentieth century and both paved the way for modernism. This is Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian sculptor who, like Picasso, lived and worked in France.
In this picture there is a sculpture on the right side that is not made by Picasso, it is only influenced by Picasso, but in the middle of the picture, there is a classic Picasso painting. A painting that anyone could tell is by Picasso.
Woman on a Pillow
It is a fascinating work! I think it's my favorite in this exhibition... I can see that my companions were impressed too, because they couldn't tear themselves away from that place.
Here you can see all the elements that Picasso brought to drawing and painting. The head looks deformed but contains both the face and the profile. The unnatural arching of the arms and legs and the apparent disproportion of the body suggest movement, that the painting is not a still image. On the contrary, you see and feel the movement, I think it had a very agitated model. Gorgeous!
I have also brought in the picture the label of the paintings, which shows the name and the moment of the realization. Unfortunately, the image quality of these labels is very poor and I apologize for that.
Here are some of Picasso's paintings!
Now I can say that below you will see the paintings in the exhibition. This is the main purpose of a museum. To present paintings.
The theme of the exhibition was, in addition to paying homage to Picasso, to highlight the influence that this great artist had on other artists, in this case, on Romanian artists.
Those who made the exhibition had the excellent idea of printing on the walls of a passageway the opinions of painters who admit to having been influenced by Picasso.
These are some paintings by Romanian artists. We can easily see the difference between Picasso's paintings and those of those who try to copy him or have been influenced by him.
These could be seen on the first level of the museum. I don't want to go any further now, because that would be too long and, of course, boring. Because there are still many remarkable paintings by the great painter, I will try to present them in some future blogs.
After a few hours spent looking at the paintings and trying to gather as much information as possible, after the excitement of meeting Picasso's art, a short walk in the area where the MARe museum is located came as a relaxation and a settling of impressions.
If someone arrives in the area, i.e. in Bucharest, and is an art lover and, more than that, is eager to see some of Picasso's paintings up close, then a few forays are necessary.
MARe is easy to find. It is located in the north of Bucharest, close to the Triumphal Arch and Herastrau Park. You can see it on the map!
The Picasso Effect exhibition is open until 8 January 2024.
Monday-Sunday: 10-20 (Tuesday: closed)
Ticket price $ 22
The ticket price for groups (5 people) is $ 15 for each
