Gheorghe D. Anghel was a Romanian sculptor, born in 1904 in Turnu Severin, who made art history mainly due to his statues depicting famous cultural personalities in Romanian history, created in a classical manner, which was both impressive and very decorative.
He began studying sculpture at the Fine Arts School in Bucharest, where he had the chance of training under the famous Dimitrie Paciurea, who would later ptove to be the main influence and ideal sculptor for Anghel. Then the young artist went to Paris, like most in his generation did, in 1924 - 1937. He would stay there for quite some time, enrolling at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and he also visited museums and famous galleries, interested in painting, sculpture, graphics, posters, literally all forms of art. It was here that he also met Constantin Brancusi, whose studio he visited.
Impressed and influence by the rich French tradition in sculpture, painting and architecture, he finished his first mature creations, mainly busts, and one of these was even exhibited in the foyer of the Comedie Francaise, the first triumph of one who would later be considered one of the best new sculptors. The mix between the Romanian influence and the French tradition provided an interesting enough result, and Anghel was regarded by the critics as a promising voice in the world of sculpture, providing rich, expressive and strong figures.
He continued working, trying to find his own way and style, rather than just imitate other famous artists. At a time when many young sculptors tried to emulate the likes of Constantin Brancusi, Anghel had his own manner and way, which was from the start an impressive achievement. He produced a great number of portraits and busts, interested only remotely by the principles of Impressionism, and mostly worked in bronze, which he liked and deemed to be proper for his ideas and themes. Seldom, he also worked in stone, but it seemed he didn't favour the medium.
The sculptor also produced several symbolic compositions, often depicting his own vision of concepts such as Poetry, Music, Religion. But he enjoyed the most success and appreciation due to his portraits, depicting famous people, some of them who had even met. Among the masters that he presented were Baudelaire, Vasile Parvan, Ion Andreescu, Mihai Eminescu, while among those who he had met were Maria Tanase, D. Ghiata, George Enescu and others. He always tried to capture the essence of the personality, as well as working in a classical manner, which valued the power of expression and characterisation. So his busts and statues were impressive, realistic and very, very fresh in the landscape of Romanian art. Several of these were commisions, highly valued by critics and officials. Maybe the best known of his works is still the statue of Mihai Eminescu, in front of the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest.
2008-08-13
