2422 ROMANIA (Prahova) - The "Nicolae Grigorescu" Memorial Museum in Câmpina

2422 - 1. The "Nicolae Grigorescu" Memorial Museum in Câmpina;
2. "Peasant woman inside"; 3. "At the well"; 4. "Shepherdess sitting down".

Nicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907) is the first of the founders of modern Romanian painting, followed by Ion Andreescu and Ştefan Luchian, having become a symbol for the young generations of artists who, during the first decades of the 20th century, were striving to identify and bring to light the values of Romanian spirituality. A strong and complex temperament, lyrical through his nature, he remains also the first Romanian painter of European circulation.

He was born in the Pitaru village (Dâmboviţa County), but in 1843 the family moved to Bucharest, back then the capital city of Vallachia. After an early apprenticeship (1848-1850) in the workshop of the Czech miniaturist and church painter Anton Chladek, he painted at first icons, and then the churches of two monasteries, Zamfira and Agapia. Upon the intervention of Mihail Kogalniceanu, he was granted a scholarship to study in Paris.

In the autumn of 1861, he left for Paris, where he was admitted to the École des Beaux-Arts, attending Sébastien Cornu's workshop, where he was a fellow student of Auguste Renoir. However, he would soon leave this workshop and, attracted by the artistic outlooks of the Barbizon school, he would settle down in this place. He participated in the Universal Exposition of Paris (1867) with seven paintings, and then in other exhibitions, in Paris and in Romania.

In 1873-1874, he took study trips to Italy, Greece and Vienna. In 1877, he was called to accompany the Romanian army as a "battle-front painter", performing drawings and sketches that would lie at the basis of future compositions, in the battles of Griviţa and Rahova. Since 1879 he worked particularly in France, but in 1890 he settled down in Romania and devoted his work mainly to rustic themes. In 1899, he was the first plastic artist elected member of the Romanian Academy.
 
In 1904 he retired to Câmpina, where passed away in 1907. He chose this town for its patriarchal air and especially for its surroundings of unequalled beauty. The house, built by the artist himself, burnt down completely during WWI. Some of the objects could be saved, which made it possible for the artist's house to be reconstituted between 1954 and 1955, under the direct guidance of the artist's son. The Memorial Museum was opened in 1957.

About the stamp
It is a prepaid postcard (the coat of arms of the Socialist Republic of Romania, 1965-1989), but was used also a stamp, part of the series Folk Art, issued on 1982.

References
The "Nicolae Grigorescu" Memorial Museum in Câmpina - Official website

Sender: Florea Ivănescu
Sent from Câmpina (Prahova / Romania), on 06.08.1985