Woman in Romanian Art

Painted, sculpted and drawn portraits of women, found in the Cotroceni National Museum collection

By Cotroceni National Museum

Portrait of Lucia Beller (20th Century) by Aurel BordenacheCotroceni National Museum

Portrait of Lucia Beller - Aurel Bordenache

Aurel Bordenache (1902 – 1987) is the creator of the only work of art showing the mysterious Romanian artist Lucia Beller (1889 – 1961).

Portrait of Princess Maria (1900) by Costin PetrescuCotroceni National Museum

Paintings

Cotroceni National Museum owns a large number of paintings, portraits of various women, from Queen Marie, the most beloved sovereign, to artists or simple peasants, from nudes to field workers. The artists who created them, all Romanians, have portraited them according to their own vision and technique, resulting an incredible mixture of colors and beauty.

Peasant woman in landscape (Circa 1900) by Arthur VeronaCotroceni National Museum

Peasant woman with landscape - Arthur Verona

Arthur Verona (1867–1946) was inspired to paint peasant people in plein-air style by the wonderful works of Nicolae Grigorescu. Here, we have a female character in foreground, wearing national costume, laying on grass, with a tilted birch at the left.

Woman picking flowers (Circa 1927) by Samuel MutznerCotroceni National Museum

Woman picking flowers - Samuel Mützner

Samuel Mützner was a distinguished painter of the 20th century, who created his own style after two years spent alongside Claude Monet in Giverny. There, between 1908 and 1910, he became widely known for his numerous landscapes that he painted in the Pointillism technique.

Harvester woman (20th Century) by Octav BăncilăCotroceni National Museum

Harvester woman - Octav Băncilă

Octav Bancilă was well known for his works describing peasants and the rural agricultural works.
This painting depicts a woman in the wheat field, with a melancholic expression on her face, while harvesting, holding a bunch of wheat threads in a hand and a sickle in the other.

Nudes (20th Century) by Ștefan VasileCotroceni National Museum

Nudes - Stefan Vasile

The vivid colors, the tones of red, pink and yellow blending with greens, blues and purples give life to this painting, imposing a dynamism highly outlined. The women have no contured faces, giving them an aura of mystery, in deep contrast with their almost explicit nudity.

Portrait of Princess Maria (1900) by Costin PetrescuCotroceni National Museum

Portrait of Princess Marie

Marie of Romania (born Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh; 1875 –1938), the last but the most loved Queen of Romania as the wife of King Ferdinand I. This is one of the more than 400 portraits painted by Costin Petrescu.

Girl with veil (20th Century) by Șerban Rusu ArboreCotroceni National Museum

Girl with Veil - Serban Rusu Arbore

Cotroceni National Museum owns more than 45 paintings signed by Serban Rusu Arbore, donated by his wife. One of them represents a young woman, wearing a traditional costume, with a marama over her hair, a very long and fine veil that completes the national woman's costume.

The silhouette of the queen (21st Century) by Bogdan-Mihai RaduCotroceni National Museum

The silhouette of the queen - Bogdan Mihai Radu

Surrounded by a floral repertoire of lilies, the silhouette of the queen appears wrapped in mystery. B.M. Radu captured the melancholic, poetic, solar side of the queen. Her features are not clearly rendered, enhancing the mystery with colors, shadows and lights.

Woman's head (20th Century) by Milița PetrașcuCotroceni National Museum

Sculpture

The sculpture section of the Cotroceni National Museum’s collection hosts some pieces from one of the most renowned Romanian artists, Milita Petrascu, but also from other important sculptors.

Woman's head (20th Century) by Milița PetrașcuCotroceni National Museum

Woman’s head – Milita Petrascu

Milita’s portraits show a great diversity of expressions. The artist has tirelessly tested the multiple possibilities of a successful artistic genre in the Romanian society, becoming the greatest portraitist of her time.

Nude (20th century) by Milița PetrașcuCotroceni National Museum

Nude – Milita Petrascu

The „Nude” in Cotroceni National Museum’s heritage is a small size statue, depicting a woman resting on a chair, with arms behind her back, with a sleeping like mimic. This statue can be seen on the visiting tour of the Museum, being displayed in Queen Marie’s apartment.

Girl portrait (20th Century) by Ana RusCotroceni National Museum

Girl portrait - Ana Rus

Ana Rus (n. 1947), a former curator at Cotroceni National Museum, donated this sculpted head of a young woman, with her eyes closed, barely smiling. Her delicate features are adorned with a metallic ornament, making the portrait seem extremely fragile and feminine.

Nude laying down (20th Century) by Frederic StorckCotroceni National Museum

Nude laying down - Frederic Storck

This small size statue represents a young woman’s nude figure, lying face down, with her arms around her head. Her torso is twisted and her legs are raised to the chest; the nude has a very refined line; the anatomical details are very harmonious and the glossiness of the bronze

Nude laying down (20th Century) by Frederic StorckCotroceni National Museum

Nude laying down - Frederic Storck

Sitting peasant woman (20th Century) by Oscar HanCotroceni National Museum

Sitting peasant woman – Oscar Han

Small sculpture depicting a female character, a barefoot peasant woman, with her head tilted down and her arms sitting in her lap. She is wearing a veil on her head and a traditional Romanian costume.

Peasant girl (20th Century) by Oscar HanCotroceni National Museum

Peasant girl – Oscar Han

Another sculpture of a peasant woman, a girl, signed by the same Oscar Han. In 1917, he was one one of the 30 artists sent on the front of the Great General Army Headquarters, in order to artistically recreate scenes inspired by the battles fought by the Romanian army.

Portrait of a young woman (20th Century) by Vasile ȘtefanCotroceni National Museum

Graphics

Cotroceni National Museum's impressive collection of graphics, drawings, watercolors, sketches holds some works signed by important contemporary artists, such as Iulian Olariu or Rodica Maniu.

Portrait of Elena Cuza (19th century) by Carol Popp de SzathmaryCotroceni National Museum

Portrait of Elena Cuza - Carol Popp de Szathmary

This is one of the many portraits Carol Szathmary made for Mrs. Elena Cuza, as he was the official artist of the Ruling Prince of the Romanian Principalities, Alexandru Ioan Cuza.

Girl in landscape (20th century) by Rodica ManiuCotroceni National Museum

Girl in landscape - Rodica Maniu

Portrait of a woman, Rodica Maniu, 20th century, From the collection of: Cotroceni National Museum

Peasant woman spinning, Rodica Maniu, 20th Century, From the collection of: Cotroceni National Museum

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Rodica Maniu Mützner (1892-1958) was the student of Nicolae Vermont and wife of Samuel Mutzner. Her works vary from landscapes, places she visited and countryside life to town life and portraits. Here we have two watercolor paintings, a portrait of a city woman with a blue dress, sitting on a chair, holding a fan in her left hand, and a peasant woman, wearing a traditional costume, barefoot, spinning a thread.

Peasant women in national costume (20th century) by Hans AescherCotroceni National Museum

Peasant women in national costume - Hans Aescher

Cotroceni National Museum owns a series of works signed by Hans Aescher, among which there is this beautiful watercolor, representing two peasant women, wearing traditional costumes, with veils and "opinci", special traditional shoes.

Peasant woman in a cart with horse (20th Century) by Hans AescherCotroceni National Museum

Peasant woman in a cart with horse - Hans Aescher

Hans Aescher’s works are very elaborated, focusing on Romanian traditional motifs and customs, on people, on images of Bucharest’s slums and their inhabitants and on landscapes.

Nude (20th Century) by Vasile ȘtefanCotroceni National Museum

Nude - Vasile Stefan

Apart his paintings in oil on canvas, Vasile Ștefan is also known for his drawings in ink and charcoal mixed with watercolors and pastels

Portrait of a woman (20th century) by Vasile ȘtefanCotroceni National Museum

Portrait of a woman - Vasile Stefan

Here, we have two women portraits, in different situations, faceless, expressing their feelings or state only by their body postures.

Portrait of a girl, Iulian Olariu, 20th century, From the collection of: Cotroceni National Museum

Woman reading, Iulian Olariu, 20th Century, From the collection of: Cotroceni National Museum

Nude, Iulian Olariu, 20th Century, From the collection of: Cotroceni National Museum

Woman posing, Iulian Olariu, 20th Century, From the collection of: Cotroceni National Museum

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Iulian Olariu (1922-1991), sculptor, painter and illustrator, is one of the Romanian artists who represented our country in many exhibitions, in groups or personal, all over the world. At the beginning of his career, Olariu prefered painting and sculpting, later getting into graphics and engraving. In graphics, he made a series of comparisons inspired by contemporary reality, with strong militant accents. The metaphorical intention acts permanently in his works, giving them a touch of lyricism.

Ana lui Manole (21st Century) by Pavel BucurCotroceni National Museum

Ana lui Manole - Pavel Bucur

In 2010, Bucur donated us this felt-tip pen drawing, representing one of the most famous Romanian female legends. It is a recomposed and simplified portrait of Ana, the wife of Master Builder Manole, who built Curtea de Arges monastery (16th Century, in Ramnicu Valcea, Romania).

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