Museum Visit

Hi everyone,

I've spent a beautiful Sunday in a special museum here in Bucharest.

The place was home of Krikor Zambaccian, which he donated to the state, together with his art collection.

The place is amazing, and a pity that the founder could not keep it in the family and organize it as a private museum. But this donation was happening in difficult times, during a communism regime and military occupation from the Soviet Army. It was probably his way to safeguard the integrity of his collection, and most probably his ticket for freedom.

Krikor Zambaccian was a textile trader and son of a wealthy father. He discovered art when he was a little kid, and became a patron and friend of many contemporary artists from Romania and France. He gathered an amazing treasury of art from most famous Romania painters, but also some world masterpieces, including a Brâncuşi, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse or Pablo Picasso:

Portrait of a Girl (1896) Paul Cézanne

It is for the first time that I see a painting by Paul Cézanne, the artist that laid the foundation for the transition from Impressionism to Cubism. Clean lines, and beautiful colors, isn't it?

The next one is an innocent children drawn by the Romanian master Nicolae Tonitza. This is probably the masterpiece painting of this very famous Romanian painter, and I have seen it many times on the cover of various Romanian art books: