The Art Department of the Museum of Braila can be found in the Traian Square, No 3, and it is one of the most important museums of the city, with an impressive and varied collection and some surprising permanent exhibits. It can be visited from Wednesday to Sunday.
The idea of opening an art museum in Braila, welcoming the public all day long, first appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, due to Anastase Simu (1854 - 1935), a collector and art lover. It was him that in 1928 donated to the city no-less that 30 works of art, to be exhibited in the City Hall. An impressive, yet modest beginning of a museum,due to the generosity of a now almost forgotten collector. Ten years later, the City Hall finally took over the art collection and in 1950 the Art Gallery became an independent institution, later renamed (1955) the Art Museum, a department of the Museum of Braila since 1967.
The collections of the Art Museum in Braila - donnations, transfers, acquisitions - ammount to around 4000 works of art, of varied quality, and some of the exhibitis are rare and very interesting for specialists and visitors alike. There is a large collection of Romanian art, both modern and contemporary, one of Romanian contemporary sculpture, a collection of international decorative arts, a collection of photographies and one of memorial objects and documents. All in one, a rich and interesting treasure, which is presented to the public in temporary and permanent shows.
Among those featured in the art museum are some of the most important names in Romanian art : Carol Popp de Szathmary, Constantin Lecca, Theodor Aman, Nicolae Grigorescu, Gheorghe Petrascu, Theodor Pallady, Nicolae Tonitza, Camil Ressu, Iosif Iser, Nicolae Darascu, Alexandru Steriadi, Alexandru Ciucurencu and many more. Of special interest are the selections of works signed by artists from Braila, the largest of it's kind in Romania : Nicapetre, Paula Ribariu, Gheorghe Naum, Ion Theodorescu-Sion, Max Hermann-Maxy. Paintings, drawings, sketches, carpets, furniture, decorative arts, all splendid exhibits, made by these artists. Also very valuable is also the collection of European and Far-Eastern decorative art, from the 18th - 19th century, with 157 pieces from the Paul Balcanescu Collection, donated to the museum in 1965, after the art lover passed away. There are also several rare and interesting photographs made by famous artists such as Carol Popp de Szathmary, Iulius Maisner, Rigas Rigopulos, Iosif Kozmata, Alois Kolpi, Marco Klein, F. Licht, Natalia Bella.
Some of the artworks are presented in the museum in permanent exhibitions, among these being the Nicapetre Retrospective.
Photo : muzeulbrailei.ro
2008-01-31
