EX POSITION

(1880-1930)

Exhibition

Peintres roumains en Bretagne

ROMANIAN PAINTERS IN BRITTANY

Il est particulirement clairant, pour la comprhension de lhistoire culturelle de la Bretagne, dassocier en un mme lieu les crations de sa population et la manire dont elles ont t perues par des personnalits extrieures celle-ci. Eclairant et enthousiasmant, tout spcialement quand cela nous conduit, comme aujourdhui, rvler ce qu peu prs tous nous ignorions encore : la renomme de la Bretagne dans les milieux artistiques roumains des deux derniers sicles, aprs que Grigorescu et fait connatre ses compatriotes la beaut de la rgion. Jusqu la coupure brutale de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, ils vinrent alors nombreux, les Nicolae Grant, Theodor Pallady, Gheorghe Petracu, tefan Popescu, Elena Popea, Jean Al. Steriadi, Iosif Iser, Constantin Petrescu-Dragoe, Rodica Maniu, Max W. Arnold, etc. Tant de noms totalement inconnus du public franais, malgr leur attachement pour notre pays. Cest l aussi lobjet des expositions europennes du Muse breton : renouer des liens culturels et artistiques que la Guerre puis loppression totalitaire ont briss. Nous les retissons, ces liens, grce lamiti et au savoir de nos collgues roumains du Muse national de Bucarest, principale institution musographique roumaine avec laquelle cest un honneur, pour le Muse breton, de collaborer. Nous exprimons notre gratitude et notre amiti nos chres collgues Roxana Theodorescu, directeur gnral du Muse, Dana Crian, Monica Enache, conservatrices, pour nous avoir accompagns et soutenus dans cette entreprise. Philippe Le Stum

A short guide to the Summer Exhibition 2009

Conservateur en chef Directeur du Muse dpartemental breton

To understand the cultural history of Brittany it is particularly enlightening to bring together in one place not only creations by Breton people, but also works showing how artists from outside the region perceived Brittany. Enlightening and also heartening, especially when it gives us the opportunity, as is the case today, to reveal something which hardly anyone has been aware of up to now: the renown of Brittany within Romanian artistic circles during the last two centuries. When the painter Grigorescu told his compatriots about the beauty of the region, Romanian painters flocked to Brittany up until the onset of the Second World War. They included N icolae Grant, Theodor Pallady, Gheorghe Petracu, tefan Popescu, Elena Popea, Jean Al. Steriadi, Iosif Iser, Constantin Petrescu-Dragoe, Rodica Maniu and Max W. Arnold, most of whom are totally unknown to French people, despite their strong attachment to our region. Another objective of the exhibitions of European artists held at the Muse Breton is to renew the cultural and artistic links which were broken by the war and subsequent totalitarian oppression. We have rebuilt these links, thanks to the friendship and knowledge of our colleagues at the National Museum of Romania in Bucharest, whom it is an honour to work with. We should like to express our gratitude and friendship to our dear colleagues Roxana Theodorescu, DirectorGeneral of the Museum, Dana Crian and Monica Enache, the curators, for their help and support in mounting this exhibition.

P E T IT JOURNAL

PLOUGASTEL-DAOULAS Nicolae Grigorescu LES GES DE LA VIE

(Pitaru, 1838 Cmpina, 1907)

Grigorescu commena sa carrire

comme peintre dicnes, de dcors dglises et monastres. En 1862, il gagna Paris, o il travailla dans latelier de Charles Gleyre en mme temps que Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir et Alfred Sisley, avant dtre admis lcole des beaux-arts. Mais ds 1863, il abandonna ses tudes acadmiques pour rejoindre la colonie artistique de Barbizon, quil frquenta jusquen 1869 pour peindre en plein air, sur le motif , selon lexemple de Corot, Courbet ou Millet. Ainsi, lcole de Barbizon a-telle reprsent un moment dcisif dans la carrire artistique du peintre roumain et, par son intermdiaire, influenc lvolution de toute la peinture roumaine. Grigorescu revint Paris en 1876, se familiarisant alors avec lart des impressionnistes Renoir, Berthe Morisot et Camille Pissarro. Entre 1878 et 1880, il peignit Vitr, Dinan, Granville, au Mont-Saint-Michel, Fougres, puis encore Vitr, Dinan et Granville entre 1880 et 1887. Aprs le clair-obscur et la touche lisse de la priode de Barbizon, ses uvres des annes 1880 tmoignent dune plus grande vivacit. Leur expressivit est soutenue par une palette plus lumineuse et par llimination de la ligne, la construction des volumes

tant dsormais porte seulement par les touches de couleur. Grigorescu tait trs attach ses toiles bretonnes, au point quil leur fixait des prix trs levs, afin de sassurer quaucun acheteur ne pourrait les acqurir ! Exposes en Roumanie, elles eurent une influence dterminante sur lvolution de la peinture dans ce pays.
Grigorescu began his career by painting icons and decorating churches and monasteries. In 1862 he moved to Paris where he worked in the studio of Charles Gleyre at the same time as Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley, before gaining admission to the cole des Beaux-Arts. However, after barely a year he abandoned his academic studies and joined the Barbizon group of artists to paint from real life in the open air, following the example of Corot, Courbet and Millet. He remained with the group until 1869. Thus the Barbizon School marked a turning point in the artistic career of Grigorescu and, through him, influenced the entire development of Romanian painting. Grigorescu returned to Paris in 1876, and soon became familiar with the work of the Impressionists Renoir, Berthe Morisot and Camille Pissarro. Between 1878 and 1880, he painted at Vitr, Dinan, Granville, Mont-SaintMichel and Fougres. He returned to Vitr, Dinan and Granville between 1880 and 1887. After the chiaroscuro and smooth brush strokes of his Barbizon period, his works of the 1880s were far livelier, maintaining expressivity through the use of brighter colours, an absence of lines and intense patches of colour to give an idea of volume. Grigorescu was very fond of his Breton canvasses, so much so that he asked very high prices for them so that no-one would buy them! They remained on exhibition in Romania and were strongly influential on the development of painting in the country.
1. Intrieur Vitr. Huile/toile, 1876-1883. Interior at Vitr. Oil on canvas, 1876-1883. 2. Portrait de petite fille bretonne. Huile sur bois, [1880-1885]. Portrait of a little Breton girl. Oil on wood, [1880-1885]. 3. Cte en Bretagne. Huile sur toile, [1883-1884]. On the coast of Brittany. Oil on canvas, [1883-1884]. PAGE DE COUVERTURE ET DOS DE COUVERTURE : Iosif iser, Plage (dtail). Aquarelle et encre de Chine, [1926]. Beach scene.Watercolour and Indian ink, [1926].

Nicolae Grant
(Bucarest, 1868 1950)
icolae Grant naquit au manoir Belvdre, proprit familiale au nord de Bucarest. Il fit ses tudes en France avant de retourner en Roumanie o il suivit, lcole des beaux-arts de Bucarest, lenseignement des artistes acadmiques Theodor Aman et Gheorghe Tattarescu. En 1885, il retourna Paris, sinscrivant dabord lcole des arts dcoratifs, avant dtre admis lcole des beaux-arts, dans latelier de Jean-Lon Grme. Attir par la peinture en plein air, il peignit Fontainebleau, en 1886, ses premires compositions daprs nature. En 1893, il organisa une exposition de ses uvres lAthne roumain, clbre difice bucarestois qui abritera la Pinacothque nationale entre 1906 et 1948. Il retourna en France lanne suivante et en 1896 se rendit en Bretagne avec son ami Theodor Pallady, parcourant vlo la cte nord et le Finistre. Il rapporta en Roumanie de nombreuses vues de Plneuf-Val-Andr, de Brhat et de Pont-Aven, marques par la leon impressionniste et postimpressionniste. Il continua de partager son temps entre la Roumanie et la France, passant les ts de 1900 et 1902 Loctudy et en Normandie. Dans son pays natal, il fut lun des membres fondateurs de la socit La Jeunesse artistique, et un paysagiste reconnu. Etranger aux courants davant-garde du XXe sicle, il de-

meura fidle une vision raliste de la nature, ne se fiant qu son sens de lobservation, sa sensibilit devant le sujet et sa science de coloriste.

Nicolae Grant was born at the Manoir Belvdre, the family home to the north of Bucharest. After studying in France he returned to Romania where he was a student at the cole des Beaux-Arts in Bucharest under the art teachers Theodor Aman and Gheorghe Tattarescu. In 1885, he went back to Paris where he first enrolled at the cole des Arts Dcoratifs, before entering the studio of Jean-Lon Grme at the cole des Beaux-Arts. Grant was drawn to open-air painting and painted his first studies of nature at Fontainebleau in 1886. In 1893 he organised an exhibition of his work at the Romanian Athenaeum, a famous building in Bucharest which later became home to the national Pinacothque between 1906 and 1948. He returned to France the following year and in 1896 he visited Brittany with his Theodor Pallady, cycling along the north coast and through Finistre.HewentbacktoRomaniawithnumerous paintings of Plneuf-Val-Andr, Brhat and Pont-Aven, all of which featured the hallmarks of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism. He continued to divide his time between Romania and France and spent the summers of 1900 and 1902 at Loctudy and in Normandy. He was one of the founder members of La Jeunesse Artistique art society in his homeland as well as a well-known landscape artist. Despite the avant-gardewavesofthe20thcentury,heremained faithful to a realistic vision of nature, trusting only in his sense of observation, his sensitivity to subject matter and his knowledge of colour.

1. Femme travaillant (Arradon). Huile sur toile, [1903-1904]. Woman knitting in Arradon. Oil on canvas, [1903-1904]. 2. Paysanne bretonne (femme du Pays bigouden). Gouache, aquarelle et crayon sur papier ocre, [1894-1904]. A Breton countrywoman (from the Pays Bigouden). Gouache, watercolour and pencil on ochre-coloured paper, [1894-1904]. 3. Trois Bretons. Huile sur toile, [1894-1904]. Three Breton men. Oil on canvas, [1894-1904].

Theodor Pallady
(Iassy, 1871 Bucarest, 1956)
de Boyards, Pallady incarne laristocrate-type de lentredeux-guerres, mais il est aussi le plus franais des peintres roumains. Elev dans la tradition de la culture franaise, il a pens et crit en franais. Lgocentrisme assum du crateur moderne tait renforc chez lui par lorgueil hrit de ses grands-parents. Ces traits de caractre ont trs tt fait de lui un excentrique, dont la devise de jeunesse tait Au-del de tout et qui refusa par trois fois la Lgion dhonneur, en dclarant: "Je nadmets pas que lon se permette de me dcorer !". Ayant dcid de devenir peintre, il rejoignit Paris, frquenta dabord latelier dEdmond Aman-Jean puis, partir de 1896, celui de Gustave Moreau lcole des beaux-arts de Paris. Parmi ses collgues dalors se trouvait Henri Matisse, auquel des liens damiti le lirent jusqu sa mort. Entre 1913 et 1940, avec une interruption pendant la guerre, Pallady habita Paris, tout en exposant rgulirement en Roumanie. Son premier voyage en Bretagne pourrait dater de 1896, lorsque, encore tudiant, il fit une randonne en vlo avec son ami Nicolae Grant, dans le nord de la pninsule et dans le Finistre, en passant par Plneuf-Val-Andr, Brhat et Pont-Aven. Les premiers paysages bretons firent leur apparition dans son exposition de Bucarest, en

Descendant

1925. Aprs 1926, il revint Brhat et voyagea nouveau sur la cte bretonne, Saint-Malo, Morlaix, Dinard, le Croisic, Trboul, Douarnenez. En avril 1940, Pallady doit retourner Bucarest. Le retour fut dfinitif, mme si le peintre, qui esprait une clarification rapide de la situation internationale, navait pas renonc son atelier de la place Dauphine.
Pallady was a descendant of the Boyars and the archetypal aristocrat from the period between the wars, but he was also the most French of the Romanian painters. Brought up in the tradition of French culture, he thought and wrote in French. The egocentric air of the modern artist was accentuated by a natural arrogance inherited from his grandparents. These features of his character quickly gained him a reputation as an eccentric. During his youth his motto was: "to reach ever higher" and he refused the award of the Lgion dhonneur three times, saying: "I cannot possibly let anyone take the liberty of bestowing a decoration upon me!". Having decided to become a painter, Pallady went to Paris and regularly attended the studio of Edmond Aman-Jean. Then in 1896 he joined that of Gustave Moreau at the cole des Beaux-Arts de Paris. Among his colleagues was Henri Matisse who became a life-long friend. Between 1913 and 1940, except during wartime, Pallady lived in Paris, while continuing to hold exhibitions in Romania. His first trip to Brittany was probably in 1896, when, while still a student, he went on a cycling tour, with his friend Nicolae Grant, in the north of the peninsula and in Finistre, visiting Plneuf-Val-Andr, Brhat and Pont-Aven. His first Breton landscapes appeared in his 1925 exhibition in Bucharest. After 1926, he returned to Brhat and travelled around the coast of Brittany once more, visiting Saint-Malo, Morlaix, Dinard, Le Croisic, Trboul and Douarnenez. (His watercolours are on show on the 4th floor of this museum in the Salle de la Tour de Rohan). In April 1940, Pallady was forced to return to Bucharest. He did not come back to France although he was obviously hoping for a rapid resolution of the international situation as he kept his studio on the Place Dauphine.
1. Clocher en Bretagne (Saint-Thgonnec). Crayon et gouache, [1930-1932]. Steeple in Brittany (Saint-Thgonnec). Pencil and gouache, [1930-1932]. 2. Maison Morlaix - Rue de la Prison. Crayon et aquarelle, [19271928]. House at Morlaix Rue de la Prison. Pencil and watercolour; [1927-1928].

3. Maisons au bord de la mer. Huile sur carton, [1920-1924]. Houses by the sea. Oil on cardboard, [1920-1924].

Gheorghe Petracu
(Tecuci, 1872 Bucarest, 1949)
etracu passa son enfance Tecuci, au sud de la Moldavie, et Nicoreti, au pied des Carpates, o son pre possdait un vignoble. Puis, install Bucarest avec son frre Nicolae, crivain et critique dart, il sinscrivit en 1892 lcole des beaux-arts. La gnration de Petracu tmoignait dune admiration sans bornes pour Grigorescu, dont il devint le disciple. En 1898, il gagna Paris et sinscrivit lAcadmie Julian dans latelier de William Bouguereau, clbre peintre acadmique. En 1900, il fit ses dbuts sur la scne artistique roumaine avec une exposition personnelle lAthne de Bucarest. Petracu a parcouru lEurope et visit lEgypte. Mais ce besoin fut quilibr par son attachement aux paysages natals des valles de Siret et Brlad. Il dcouvrit la Bretagne en 1899, y revint en 1901, rencontrant tefan Popescu Ploumanach. Dans ses vues de Vitr, il donna la pleine mesure de son style de jeunesse en reprenant un motif cher Grigorescu. Il revint encore en Bretagne aprs ses tudes, et peignit en 1921 Morlaix, Roscoff, Vitr, Saint-Malo et SaintEnogat. La critique, les collectionneurs et les muses ont fait de lui, avec Pallady, le peintre roumain le plus renomm de lentre-deux-guerres. Ses contemporains ont admir son sens de la couleur, la sensualit de sa touche, sa fougue, qualits qui le rapprochaient de Nicolae Grigorescu. Petracu fut aussi un dessinateur et un aquarelliste, ainsi quun graveur prolifique (voir ses uvres graphiques au 4e tage, dans la Tour de Rohan).

Petracu spent his childhood at Tecuci, in the south of Moldavia, and at Nicoreti, in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, where his father owned a vineyard. He settled in Bucharest with his brother Nicolae, a writer and art critic, and in 1892 he enrolled at the cole des Beaux-Arts there. Like many of his generation Petracu admired Grigorescu immensely, and became his disciple. In 1898 he went to Paris and enrolled at the Acadmie Julian in the studio of William Bouguereau, a famous academic painter. In 1900, he took his first steps on the Romanian art scene with a oneman exhibition at the Bucharest Athenaeum. Petracu travelled widely throughout Europe and also visited Egypt. However, his globe-trotting was counter-balanced by his attachment to the landscapes of his native valleys of Siret and Brlad. He first discovered Brittany in 1899 and returned in 1901 when he met tefan Popescu at Ploumanach. In his paintings of Vitr, he gave full vent to his youthful style producing town and street scenes, subjects which were also popular with his friend Grigorescu. At the end of his studies, he visited Brittany once again and painted Morlaix, Roscoff, Vitr, Saint-Malo and Saint-Enogat in 1921. Critics, collectors and art galleries have made Petracu, the most well-known Romanian painter of the period between the wars, along with Pallady. His contemporaries admired his sense of colour, the sensuality of his brush strokes and his passion, qualities that he shared with Nicolae Grigorescu. Petracu also did many drawings, water-colours and etchings (examples of his graphic work are on show on the 4th floor of the Tour de Rohan).

1. Vue Vitr. Huile sur toile, 1901. View of Vitr. Oil on canvas, 1901 2. Rue en Bretagne. Encre de Chine, lavis et craies de couleur, [1921-1923]. A street in Brittany. Indian ink, colour-wash and coloured chalk, [1921-1923]. 3. Paysage au moulin. Gouache, aquarelle et encre de Chine, [1924-1926]. Landscape with a windmill. Gouache, watercolour and Indian ink, [1924-1926]

 tefan Popescu
(Fin e ti, 1872 Bucarest, 1948)
tudiant Bucarest, Popescu y dcouvrit le mouvementintellectuel socialistedeConstantinDobrogeanuGherea, qui fut son mentor spirituel. Entre 1893 et 1900, il tudia lAcadmie des beaux-arts de Munich, avant de poursuivre sa formation Paris. Il entreprit en 1901 son premier voyage en Bretagne, Paimpol et Ploumanach, o il retrouva Petracu et do il crivait : "je nai jamais vu dans ma vie un coin de terre aussi beau (). Lorsquon aperoit du haut de la colline Ploumanach avec ses rochers et ses maisons, le lieu ressemble une immense ville en ruines. Cest une sensation de grandeur que je nai jamais connue auparavant" Lorsque Popescu reprsente, en Bretagne, des personnages, il leur attribue une signification symbolique : le pcheur breton de 1913 est le portrait-type dun trs ancien mtier, en lutte permanente avec la nature. Se dtachant sur la mer, sa silhouette a lapparence du rocher. En 1904, Popescu sentretint Penmarch avec le peintre Lucien Simon, pour lequel il prouvait une grande considration. Il voyagea et peignit en Bretagne jusquen 1928, Loctudy, Saint-Gunol, Pont-lAbb, et fut sans doute lartiste roumain qui parcourut le plus cette rgion. Son enthousiasme pour elle influena

dailleurs sa manire daborder les thmatiques roumaines, en le rendant plus sensible la vie des populations rurales. Par la suite, Popescu dcouvrit Balcic, petite localit situe au sud du littoral roumain, peuple de Turcs et de Tatares, qui allait devenir pendant lentre-deux-guerres le refuge dt dune active colonie dartistes.

While a student in Bucharest, Popescu discovered the intellectual socialist movement led by Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea, who was his spiritual mentor. Between 1893 and 1900, he studied at the Acadmie des Beaux-Arts in Munich, before continuing his studies in Paris. In 1901 he visited Brittany for the first time, in particular Paimpol and Ploumanach where he met up with Petracu and from where he wrote: "this is the most beautiful place Ive ever seen ().When you come to the top of the hill and catch sight of Ploumanach with its rocks and houses, it looks like an immense ruined town, giving a feeling of immensity that Ive never come across before" When Popescu portrayed figures from Brittany, he gave each one a symbolic meaning: the Breton fisherman from 1913 is the typical representation of an ancient profession permanently battling against the forces of nature, whose silhouette stands out against the sea and resembles a rock. In 1904 in Penmarch, Popescu met the painter Lucien Simon, whom he held in great respect. His painting trips to Brittany continued until 1928, visiting Loctudy, Saint Gunol and Pont lAbb. He was without doubt the Romanian artist who visited Brittany the most and his enthusiasm for the region strongly influenced his approach to subjects back in Romania, by increasing his awareness of the rural way of life. This led Popescu to discover Balcic, a small place on the south coast of Romania, populated by Turks and Tartars, which became the summer refuge of an active artist colony during the period between the wars.
1. Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-la-Joie (Penmarch). Huile sur toile, [1904-1906]. Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-la-Joie (Penmarch). Oil on canvas, [1904-1906]. 2. Vieux pcheur. Huile sur carton, 1913. Old fisherman. Oil on cardboard, 1913. 3. Paysage avec barques. Huile sur toile, 1928. Landscape with rowing boats. Oil on canvas, 1928.

Kimon Loghi
(Serres, 1873 Bucarest, 1952)
celes ds lenfance passe en Grce -, les aptitudes artistiques de Kimon Loghi furent encourages par sa famille, qui lui permit de faire ses tudes lcole des beaux-arts de Bucarest, puis de les poursuivre Munich, en 1894, en particulier dans latelier de Franz von Stuck, peintre symboliste et lun des fondateurs de la Scession munichoise. Revenu Bucarest en 1899, sa peinture, la thmatique symboliste, connut ses premiers succs auprs de la critique et il vit trois de ses uvres slectionnes pour reprsenter la Roumanie lExposition universelle de Paris, en 1900. Au dbut du nouveau sicle, Loghi loua un atelier dans la capitale franaise, o il frquenta un groupe dartistes avec lesquels il contribua fonder la socit La Jeunesse artistique, qui attira lattention des amateurs et des critiques sur les jeunes talents roumains. Entre 1911 et 1916, il habita principalement Vienne, participant aux expositions internationales ou donnant Bucarest des expositions personnelles. Au cours des annes Vingt, il sloigna de lesthtique symboliste pour se consacrer principalement la peinture de paysage en plein air, en Roumanie (Balcic,Bran,ValeaOltului) et ltranger (Concarneau, Ploumanach, Vitr, Nice, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Antibes, Biarritz, Barbizon, Baden). Son uvre bretonne se situe dans cette priode, qui correspond lapoge de sa cration. Sa vision de la rgion, lumineuse, chaleureuse et pleine de couleurs, contraste avec les reprsentations sombres dautres peintres, parmi ses compatriotes. "Selon moi, crivait-il, trois choses

priment en peinture : la couleur, la couleur et encore la couleur".

The artistic ability of Kimon Loghi was spotted at an early age during his childhood spent in Greece. His family encouraged his talent and sent him to study first at the cole des Beaux-Arts in Bucharest, and then to Munich in 1894 to the studio of Franz von Stuck, a symbolist painter and one of the founders of the Munich Secession movement. He returned to Bucharest in 1899 where his symbolist paintings soon gained critical acclaim and three of his works were selected to represent Romania at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1900. At the start of the century, Loghi rented a studio in Paris and joined a group of artists; together they founded a society called La Jeunesse artistique, which drew the attention of art lovers and critics to the youthful Romanian talent. Between 1911 and 1916, he lived mainly in Vienna where he took part in international exhibitions while holding one-man shows in Bucharest. During the 20s he moved away from symbolist art to concentrate mainly on painting landscapes in the open air both in Romania (Balcic, Bran, Valea Oltului) and abroad (Concarneau, Ploumanach, Vitr, Nice, Villefranche-surMer, Antibes, Biarritz, Barbizon, Baden). It was during this period, at the height of his career that he painted in Brittany. His vision of the region is one of light, warmth and vivid colour, which contrasts strongly with the sombre works of his compatriot artists. "For me, he wrote, there are three important things in painting: colour, colour and yet more colour".

1. Plage Beg-Meil. Huile sur toile, 1929. The beach at BegMeil. Oil on canvas, 1929. 2. Concarneau. Huile sur toile, [1929-1934]. In Concarneau Oil on canvas, [1929-1934]. 3. Paysage marin. Huile sur toile, [1929-1934]. Seascape. Oil on canvas, [1929-1934]. 4. Arbres au bord de la mer. Huile sur toile, [1929-1934]. Trees beside the sea. Oil on canvas, [1929-1934].

Constantin Petrescu-Dragoe
(Gura S r ii, 1887 Bucarest ?, 1937)

On

1
1. Rue de Brest. Aquarelle et fusain sur papier. A street in Brest. Watercolour and charcoal on paper, 1931. 2. Vue dune ville (Quimper). Gouache et fusain sur papier, 1931. Townscape (Quimper). Gouache and charcoal on paper, 1931. 3. Histoire du port de Concarneau (Projet de dcoration murale). Fusain sur cinq panneaux de papier, [1931]. History of Concarneau Harbour (Project for a mural decoration). Five charcoal drawings on paper panels, [1931]. 4. Vieille femme de Concarneau. Fusain et gouache sur papier, 1931. Old woman from Concarneau. Charcoal and gouache on paper, 1931. 5. Vieux vendeur de poisson Concarneau. Fusain et gouache sur papier, 1931. Old fish seller in Concarneau. Charcoal and gouache on paper, 1931. 6. Madame Kitty (Concarneau). Huile sur carton, 1931. Madame Kitty (Concarneau). Oil on cardboard, 1931.

sait peu de choses sur cet artiste, qui trouva en Bretagne sa principale source dinspiration. Durant la Premire guerre mondiale, il ralisa sur le front des esquisses qui lui servirent pour quelques compositions. En 1920, il partit tudier lAcadmie des beaux-arts de Rome. partir de 1930, il voyagea beaucoup en France, notamment en Finistre, Quimper et surtout Concarneau. Au dbut de cette dcennie, il exposa au Salon dhiver du Grand Palais (1930), au Salon de la Socit nationale des beaux-arts (1931), ainsi qu lUnion artistique des amis de Concarneau et au salon de la Socit lorientaise des beaux-arts (1931). Simultanment, il envoyait des uvres aux expositions de Bucarest. Un grand nombre des dessins excuts en Finistre sont lis une importante commande de peinture murale, laquelle lartiste commence travailler en 1931. Une esquisse trs aboutie, conserve au Muse national des Arts de Bucarest, est expose ici. Nous navons pas retrouv la destination finale de cette commande. Cinq scnes composent un moment de la vie de tous les jours de la ville de Concarneau et de ses habitants : la fabrication des barques, le transport des filets, le dchargement du thon, le poissonnier et le march de poterie. larrire-plan, on
3

distingue les btiments symboles de la ville, concentrs en un seul endroit: la Ville close, la Chapelle du marin, dont le son du clocher guidait les embarcations par temps de brouillard, les tours des usines conserves. Destin probablement un htel, ce projet monumental inachev reprsente la conclusion de lexprience bretonne de PetrescuDragoe.

Very little is known about this artist who found his main source of inspiration in Brittany. During the First World War, he made sketches while serving at the front which he later used in compositions. In 1920 he went to study at the Acadmie des Beaux-Arts in Rome. From 1930 onwards, he travelled extensively in France, especially in Finistre, visiting Quimper and in particular Concarneau. At the beginning of this decade he exhibited at the Winter Show at the Grand Palais (1930) and at shows organised by the Socit Nationale des Beaux-Arts (1931), the Union Artistique des Amis de Concarneau and the Socit Lorientaise des Beaux-Arts (1931). At the same time, he sent works to exhibitions in Bucharest. A large number of the drawings made in Finistre are connected with the commission of a major mural painting which he began in 1931. A detailed sketch of this is housed at the Muse National des Arts de Bucharest, and is currently on show here. We have not, however, been able to discover the final destination of the commission. It shows five scenes of everyday life in the town of Concarneau: boat-building, transporting nets, unloading tuna, at the fishmongers and the pottery market.

In the background we can make out buildings which symbolise the town, concentrated in one place : the Ville Close, the fishermens chapel whose bell guided vessels through fog and the towers of the fish canneries. Destined probably for a hotel, this monumental unfinished project marks the end of the Brittany experience of PetrescuDragoe.

Jean Al. Steriadi

(Bucarest, 1880 1956)

Steriadi suivit les cours de lcole

des beaux-arts de Bucarest entre 1897 et 1901, poursuivit sa formation Munich puis Paris, o il sinstalla en 1903, frquentant, comme nombre de ses contemporains, lAcadmie Julian, tablissement priv denseignement des arts. La peinture en plein air y tait encourage et ce fut durant cette priode que Steriadi dcouvrit avec enthousiasme la peinture impressionniste. En 1906, il effectua un voyage en Bretagne, au cours duquel il rencontra le peintre Lucien Simon, quil visita dans son atelier de Combrit-Sainte-Marine. De cette poque date la vue de lglise Notre-Dame-de-lAssomption, de Quimperl. Jusqu la fin des annes 1920, Steriadi revint souvent en Bretagne. En 1928, il peignit ainsi plusieurs vues du port de Roscoff. Graveur leau-forte et lithographe, Steriadi fonda en 1916 la socit Graphica, pour soutenir en Roumanie la production destampes. Sa carrire propre se doubla en effet dune inlassable activit danimateur de la vie artistique roumaine, quil marqua de sa personnalit charismatique : organisateur de nombreuses expositions nationales et internationales, conservateur

de muse, professeur de peinture et de lithographie lcole des beaux-arts de Bucarest, jury de salons de peintures et de dessins, membre de lAcadmie roumaine, etc.

Steriadi was a pupil at the cole des BeauxArts in Bucharest between 1897 and 1901, and then continued his studies in Munich and Paris, where he settled in 1903, attending, as did many of his contemporaries, the Acadmie Julian, a private art school. Painting in the open-air was encouraged at the Academie and Steriadi embraced impressionist painting with enthusiasm. In 1906, he travelled to Brittany and while there, visited Lucien Simon in his studio at Combrit-Sainte-Marine. The view of the church of Notre-Dame-de-lAssomption, in Quimperl dates from this period. Steriadi returned to Brittany regularly until the end of the 1920s. In 1928 he painted several views of the port of Roscoff. Steriadi also did etchings and lithographs and in 1916 he founded Graphica, a society which promoted print production in Romania. His artistic career was coupled with a tireless activity in promoting Romanian art, which was marked by his charismatic personality. He organised numerous national and international exhibitions, was a museum curator, taught painting and lithography at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Bucharest, judged art and drawing competitions, was a member of the Romanian Academy, etc.

1. Quimperl. Huile sur toile, [1906]. Townscape Quimperl. Oil on canvas, [1906]. 2. Port en France, Roscoff. Huile sur carton, 1928. A Harbour in France (Roscoff). Oil on cardboard, 1928. 3. Port en France, Roscoff. Huile sur toile, 1928. A Harbour in France (Roscoff). Oil on canvas, 1928.

Elena Popea
(Braov, 1879 Bucarest, 1941)
en Allemagne, Elena Popea frquenta la Damenakademie de Munich. Des chos de ces dbuts se retrouvrent tout au long de sa carrire artistique, marque par lattention apporte la construction graphique, mais aussi un rapprochement avec limpressionnisme allemand modr. Durant lt, elle pratiquait la peinture en plein air au sein de la colonie de femmes-peintres de Starnberger See et Landsberg, prs dAugsbourg. Lors de son premier sjour franais (1905-1910), elle devint llve de Lucien Simon, qui laissa une forte empreinte sur son uvre. Aprs la Premire Guerre mondiale, elle stablit Paris, travaillant toujours dans lentourage de Simon et sappropriant une partie de la thmatique bretonne de son matre. Puis, entre 1918 et 1919, la Bretagne offrit Popea loccasion de mener des exprimentations qui lloignrent de la manire de Simon. Aprs louverture de lAcadmie de Montparnasse (1922), elle rencontra Andr Lhote et se familiarisa auprs de lui avec le cubisme. Elle abandonna alors les investigations chromatiques de facture impressionniste. Ses compositions se firent plus dynamiques et mme dramatiques. Entre 1925 et

tudiante

1938, Popea revint priodiquement en Bretagne, rgion o elle parvenait exprimer sa vision picturale. Elle adopta un nouveau style, ngligeant les proportions ralistes et condensant limage en liminant les dtails (Kermesse en Bretagne).
As a student in Germany, Elena Popea attended the Damenakademie in Munich which left its mark on her overall artistic style in her attention to graphic construction and also in her nearness to moderate German impressionism. During the summer, she painted in the open air at the colony of women artists at Starnberger See and Landsberg, near Augsbourg. During her first stay in France (1905-1910), she became a pupil of Lucien Simon, who strongly influenced her work. After the First World War she moved to Paris where she continued to work for Simon and adopted part of the Breton theme beloved by her master. Then, between 1918 and 1919, Brittany presented Popea with the opportunity to carry out experiments which distanced her from Simons style. After the opening of the Acadmie de Montparnasse (1922), she met Andr Lhote who introduced her to cubism. She therefore abandoned her impressionist-style chromatic investigations for more dynamic and dramatic compositions. Between 1925 and 1938, Popea came back every so often to Brittany, the region where she was best able to express her pictorial vision. She adopted a new style, putting aside realistic proportions and condensing the image by eliminating details as in Kermesse en Bretagne.

1. Bretonnes. Huile sur carton, [1925-1926]. Breton women. Oil on cardboard, [1925-1926]. 2. Procession en Bretagne (Ile de Sein). Huile sur carton, [1925-1938].Procession in Brittany. Oil on cardboard, [19251938]. 3. Moisssonneurs. Huile et crayon sur carton, [1925-1938]. Harvest time. Oil and pencil on cardboard, [1925-1938]. 4. Kermesse en Bretagne. Huile sur toile, [1925-1929]. Fete in Brittany. Oil on canvas, [1925-1929].

Iosif Iser
(Bucarest, 1881 1958)

Iosif Iser fit ses tudes artistiques

Munich o ne le satisfirent ni la rigidit de lAcadmie des beauxarts, ni lart nouveau de la Scession. Son attention se concentrait dj sur les arts graphiques et il parvint collaborer aux clbres revues satiriques Jugend et Simplicissimus. Ce fut aussi dans le domaine du dessin de presse et de la caricature quil se fit dabord connatre en Roumanie, aprs son retour en 1904. En 1908, il partit Paris achever sa formation, et se lia Picasso, Derain, Marquet et Juan Gris, sans pour autant adhrer toutes leurs exprimentations. Il tudia avec soin les conceptions de Czanne, qui exera sur lui une influence dterminante pour la suite de son uvre. son retour Bucarest, ds 1909, il organisa lAthne la premire exposition roumaine dart contemporain franais. Comme peintre, les terres pittoresques et arides de Dobrogea, peuples de Turcs et de Tatares, furent dabord, en 1913, son cadre de prdilection. Aprs la Premire Guerre mondiale, sa dmobilisation et une grande exposition Bucarest, en 1920, il revint en France, tudia auprs dOthon-Friesz. Cette

mme anne, il effectua un premier voyage en Bretagne, o il revint plusieurs reprises jusquen 1944. Il y fut attir par la simplicit et laridit du paysage qui lui permettait dexprimenter diffrentes options chromatiques sur le mme motif (cycle des Plages de Saint-Malo).
Iosif Iser studied art in Munich where neither the rigidity of the Acadmie des Beaux-Arts nor the new art of the Scession were to his taste. His attention had already turned to graphic art and he worked on the satirical magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus. It was also in the field of press illustration that he first became well-known in Romania, following his return there in 1904. In 1908, he left for Paris to complete his training and joined up with Picasso, Derain, Marquet and Juan Gris, although he did not take part in all their experiments. He carefully studied the ideas of Czanne, who had a marked influence on his subsequent work. After his return to Bucharest, he organised the first exhibition of contemporary French art to be held in Romania at the Athenaeum in 1909. As a painter, his initial preference in 1913 was for the picturesque, arid lands of Dobrogea, which were inhabited by Turks and Tartars. After demobilisation at the end of the First World War he held a major exhibition in Bucharest and returned to France in 1920 where he studied under Othon-Friesz. In the same year he made his first trip to Brittany and subsequently returned several times up until 1944. He was attracted by the simplicity and barrenness of the landscape which gave him the opportunity to experiment with different colour schemes on the same design, as in the series Plages de Saint-Malo (beaches of Saint Malo).
1. Pcheurs bretons. Gouache vernisse sur carton gris, 1933. Muse des collections dArt, Bucarest, Collection Moise et Elisabeta Weinberg. Breton fishermen. Varnished gouache on grey cardboard, 1933. Museum of Art Collections, Bucharest, Moise & Elisabeta Weinberg Collection. 2. Plage Saint-Malo. Aquarelle et encre brune, 1926. Muse des collections dArt, Bucarest, Collection Moise et Elisabeta Weinberg. Beach at Saint-Malo. Water colour and brown ink, 1926. Museum of Art Collections, Bucharest, Moise & Elisabeta Weinberg Collection. 3. Plage. Aquarelle et encre de Chine, [1926]. Beach scene. Watercolour and Indian ink [1926].

Eusta iu Stoenescu
(Craiova, 1884 New York, 1957)
ustaiu Stoenescu tait issu dune vieille famille dOltnie mais sa mre, dorigine franaise, tait ne en Bretagne. Son premier contact avec la peinture remontait 1889, lorsque le peintre franais Lopold Durangel fit le portrait de sa mre. Lexposition de Grigorescu lAthne roumain, en 1897, confirma sa vocation. En 1900, il se rendit Paris et sinscrivit dabord lAcadmie Julian, dans les ateliers de William-Adolphe Bouguereau et de Jean-Paul Laurens, avant dtre admis lcole des beaux-arts. En 1905, il fit ses dbuts officiels en exposant Paris en mme temps quen Roumanie. Li des artistes franais tels que les peintres Albert Besnard, Charles Cottet, et les sculpteurs Rodin, Bourdelle ou Frmiet, il continua dexposer, dans les annes suivantes, Paris en mme temps que dans son pays dorigine. Il dcouvrit la Bretagne au cours de ses nombreux sjours en France, partir de 1909-1911. Il y retourna en 1929 et entre 1930 et 1934, peignant notamment Loctudy. Les galeries parisiennes BernheimJeune et Charpentier lui consacrrent dans les annes 1920 des expositions personnelles et le gouvernement franais lui acheta des uvres. Il jouissait en Roumanie de la mme reconnaissance, ce qui lui valut dtre nomm recteur de lAcadmie des beaux-arts. Aprs la Seconde Guerre mondiale, cependant, le pouvoir communiste le dchut de son poste, tandis quil se voyait priv de commandes et de possibilit de voyager. En 1947, en change dun visa pour la France, il excuta un dernier portrait en Roumanie. En France, en Suisse, et enfin aux Etats-Unis, il reprit lactivit de portraitiste qui avant la guerre avait assis sa rputation.
1. Procession en Bretagne. Huile sur contreplaqu, [19301934]. Procession in Brittany. Oil on plywood, [19301934]. 2. Port de Loctudy. Huile sur carton, [1929]. Loctudy harbour.Oil on cardboard, [1929].

Eustaiu Stoenescu came from an old Oltenian family but his mother was French and born in Brittany. His first contact with painting was in 1889 when the French artist, Lopold Durangel, painted his mothers portrait. His vocation was confirmed at the exhibition by Grigorescu at the Romanian Athenaeum in 1897. In 1900, he went to Paris and initially enrolled at the Academie Julian, in the studios of William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Jean-Paul Laurens, before being admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1905, he made his official debut with simultaneous exhibitions in Paris and Romania. He joined up with French artists such as the painters Albert Besnard, Charles Cottet, and the sculptors Rodin, Bourdelle and Frmiet, and continued to hold exhibitions in Paris and his native land during the next few years. He discovered Brittany during one of his many visits to France between 1909 and 1911 and returned in 1929 and between 1930 and 1934, painting especially in Loctudy. The Bernheim-Jeune and Charpentier Galleries in Paris held one-man exhibitions of his work during the 1920s and the French government bought his works. He enjoyed the same recognition in Romania, where he was appointed Rector of the Acadmie des Beaux-Arts. After the Second World War, however, the Communist authorities stripped him of his post and prevented him from taking commissions and travel. In 1947, he painted a final portrait in Romania in exchange for a visa for France. In France and Switzerland and finally in the United States he resumed the portrait painting which had secured his reputation before the war.

Rodica Maniu
(Bucarest, 1890 1958)
odica Maniu est issue dune famille dintellectuels transylvains. En 1909, elle partit Paris, o elle frquenta deux ateliers privs de formation aux Beaux-Arts, lAcadmie Julian et La Grande Chaumire. On la retrouve alors parmi les lves de Lucien Simon, Charles Cottet et Ren Menard, figures minentes du paysage artistique parisien de lpoque. Rodica Maniu affronta le public pour la premire fois en 1910, lorsquelle exposa la fois au SalondesIndpendants de Paris et au Salon dautomne de la Jeunesse artistiquedeBucarest. Maniu tmoignait, ds ses dbuts, dun intrt pour la thmatique rustique, pour la figure humaine intgre dans le paysage et pour la construction de la composition par la couleur. Rodica Maniu dcouvrit la Bretagne en 1920, probablement sur les conseils de Cottet. Les crations de cette priode incluent presque toujours la figure humaine, les particularits et les coutumes bretonnes tant beaucoup plus recherches par lartiste que les spectaculaires paysages de la cte. En 1923, Rodica Maniu pouse le peintre Samuel Mtzner (1884-1959), apprci pour ses paysages pointillistes raliss Giverny, entre 1908 et 1910. Elle

voyagea et travailla dsormais avec son mari Balcic (Roumanie), o elle revint de multiples reprises, Caliacra, en Corse (1929) et dans le Proche-Orient (1930), ralisant des huiles et des aquarelles qui rendent parfaitement latmosphre de ces lieux.

Rodica Maniu came from a Transylvanian family of intellectuals. In 1909 she went to Paris where she attended two private art schools, the Acadmie Julian and La Grande Chaumire, as a pupil of Lucien Simon, Charles Cottet and Ren Menard who were prominent figures on the Parisian landscape artist scene at that time. Rodica Maniu held her first public exhibitions in 1910 at the Salon des Indpendants in Paris and at the Autumn Show by the Jeunesse artistique in Bucharest. From the outset, Maniu showed a strong interest in rural themes, working human figures into the scenery and making constructive use of colour. She discovered Brittany in 1920, probably on the advice of Cottet. Her creations from this period are almost exclusively of human figures, their particularities and customs, as she was for more attracted by these than by the spectacular coastal scenery. In 1923, Rodica Maniu married the painter Samuel Mtzner (1884-1959), who was appreciated for his pointillist landscapes painted at Giverny between 1908 and 1910. From then on she travelled and worked with her husband in Balcic, Romania (which she visited frequently), at Caliacra in Corsica (1929) and in the Middle East (1930), producing oil paintings and water-colours which give a perfect representation of the atmosphere in these places.

1. Vieille Bretonne (Confort-Meilars). Huile sur carton, 1920. Old woman from Brittany (Confort-Meilars). Oil on cardboard, 1920. 2. Lavandires bretonnes (Plougastel-Daoulas). Huile sur carton, 1920. Breton washerwomen (Plougastel-Daoulas). Oil on cardboard, 1920.

3. Port breton (Douarnenez). Huile sur carton, 1920. Beach scene. Oil on cardboard, 1920.

Max W. Arnold
(Iassy, 1897 - Bucarest, 1946)
Iassy, capitale de la Moldavie, Max Arnold y a tudi la peinture lcole des beaux-arts (19131919), avant de continuer ses tudes lInstitut Suprieur des beaux-arts de Rome. En 1923, il tait Munich et Dresde, o il se familiarisa avec lexpressionnisme. Pourtant, Arnold na gure subi linfluence des courants artistiques contemporains et lon peut dire que ses voyages surtout lont form. Outre lEurope, il a parcouru lEgypte, la Palestine, la Syrie et lIran. Il a surtout pratiqu laquarelle, technique qui dtermina sa vision plastique et assure sa place dans lhistoire de lart roumain. Il travailla en France et se rendit souvent sur la cte bretonne, Concarneau et Douarnenez. Sa mthode de travail, influence par la peinture extrme-orientale, est largement fonde sur la spontanit de limpression. La mme virtuosit du pinceau est vidente dans ses vues de port, peintes sur toile. Arnold peignit aussi des natures mortes : pendant les longues journes de mauvais temps sur les ctes bretonnes, il assemblait dans sa chambre des compositions de fruits de mer crevettes, langoustines, homards. Quelques objets familiers, placs ct, sur la mme table noire, sont reprsents de manire fougueuse, dans des couleurs vives qui exaltent leurs formes.

3
1. March en Bretagne (Douarnenez). Huile sur carton, [19391940]. A market in Brittany (Douarnenez). Oil on cardboard, [1939-1940]. 2. Port de pcheurs Douarnenez. Huile sur toile, [1939-1940]. The fishing harbour at Douarnenez. Oil on canvas, [1939-1940]. 3. Nature morte aux langoustines. Huile sur toile, [1934-1938]. Still life with langoustines. Oil on canvas, [1934-1938].

Born in Iassy, the capital of Moldavia, Max Arnold studied painting there at the cole des Beaux-Arts (1913-1919), before continuing his studies at the Institut Suprieur des Beaux-Arts in Rome. In 1923, he was in Munich and Dresden, where he became familiar with expressionism. However, Arnold was not much influenced by the contemporary artistic currents and it was travel which influenced him the most. Apart from Europe, he visited Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Iran. He painted mainly in water-colour, a technique for which he became well-known and which ensured him a place in the history of Romanian art. (Water-colours by Arnold are on show on the 4th floor of the De Rohan Tower). Arnold often worked in France and frequently visited the coast of Brittany at Concarneau and Douarnenez. His style was influenced by far-eastern painting techniques and largely based on the spontaneity of impression, as seen in his harbour scenes of oil on canvas. He also painted still life: during prolonged periods of bad weather on the Brittany coast, he assembled compositions on a black table in his room of seafood prawns, langoustines and lobsters beside everyday objects whose vivid colours intensify their shape.

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Textes crits par Philippe Le Stum, Conservateur en chef, Directeur du Muse dpartemental breton, daprs les contributions des redacteurs du catalogue de lexposition, Dana Crian et Monica Enache, conservatrices du Muse national dArt de Roumanie. Texts for the panels written by Philippe Le Stum, Chief Curator, Director of the Museum of Brittany following contributions from editors of the exhibition catalogue, Mrs Dana Crian and Monica Enache. Traduction /Translation : Gillian Williams.

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