The Museum of Art Collections (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

: ''Muzeului Colecțiilor de Artă'') is a branch of the

National Museum of Art of Romania The National Museum of Art of Romania ( ro, Muzeul Național de Artă al României) is located in the Royal Palace in Revolution Square, central Bucharest. It features collections of medieval and modern Romanian art, as well as the international ...

and is situated in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. It is located on

Calea Victoriei CALEA may refer to: *Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, an act by the US Congress to facilitate wiretapping of U.S. domestic telephone and Internet traffic *Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, a private accredit ...

no.111 at the corner of Calea Griviței, in Romanit Palace, the first section of which was built in 1822. The museum contains 44 collections donated to the Romanian State beginning with 1927 by the families of: Hurmuz Aznavorian,

Dumitru Dumitru is a Romanian surname and given name. Notable people with the surname include: *Alina Alexandra Dumitru (born 1982), Romanian judoka * Alexe Dumitru (1935–1971), Romanian sprint canoer *Ion Dumitru (born 1950), Romanian footballer *Nicola ...

and Maria Ştefănescu, Josefina, and

Eugen Taru Eugen Taru (; 1913 – 1991) was a Romanian graphic artist, best known for his work in the political cartoon, caricature, comic strip and book illustration genres. Active throughout the communist period and first acknowledged as one among th ...

, Emanoil Romulus Anca and Ortansa Dinulescu Anca, Garabet Avakian, Mircea Petrescu and Artemiza Petrescu, Sandu Lieblich, Sică Alexandrescu, Clara and Anatol E. Baconsky, Sorin Schächter, Céline Emilian,

Marcu Beza Marcu Beza (June 30, 1882 in Kleisoura, Ottoman Empire – May 6, 1949 in Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian poet, writer, essayist, literary critique, publicist, folklorist, and diplomat of Aromanian origin. Beza was elected a corresponding ...

– Hortensia and Vasile Beza, Alexandra and Barbu Slătineanu, Béatrice and Hrandt Avakian. The collection includes various pieces from Asia and the Middle East, and several pieces by Western European artists (including one drawing by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

, but the heart of the collection consists of work of late 19th- and 20th-century Romanian artists, including

Theodor Aman Theodor Aman (20 March 1831 – 19 August 1891) was a Romanian painter, engraver and art professor. He mostly produced genre and history scenes. Biography His father was a cavalry commander from Craiova but he was born in Câmpulung, where his f ...

Nicolae Grigorescu Nicolae Grigorescu (; 15 May 1838 – 21 July 1907) was one of the founders of modern Romanian painting. There is a metro station named after Grigorescu in Bucharest. It was given his name in 1990, before which it was named after Communist army ...

, Ioan Andreescu,

Nicolae Tonitza Nicolae Tonitza (; April 13, 1886 – February 27, 1940) was a Romanian painter, engraver, lithographer, journalist and art critic. Drawing inspiration from Post-impressionism and Expressionism, he had a major role in introducing modernist g ...

Gheorghe Petrașcu Gheorghe Petrașcu (; 20 November 1872, Tecuci – 1 May 1949, Bucharest) was a Romanian painter. He won numerous prizes throughout his lifetime and had his paintings exhibited posthumously at the Paris International Exhibition and the Venice Bi ...

Theodor Pallady Theodor Pallady (; 11 April 1871 – 16 August 1956) was a Romanian painter. Biography Theodor Pallady was the son of Ioan Pallady and Maria Cantacuzino, the older sister of Romanian diplomat Neculai B. Cantacuzino. He was born in Iași, Romani ...

, Lucian Grigorescu,

Iosif Iser Iosif Iser (21 May 1881 – 25 April 1958; born and died in Bucharest) was a Romanian painter and graphic artist. Born to a Jewish family, he was initially inspired by Expressionism, creating drawings with thick, unmodulated, lines and steep ang ...

Camil Ressu Camil Ressu (; 28 January 1880 – 1 April 1962) was a Romanian painter and academic, one of the most significant art figures of Romania. Biography Early life and career Born in Galați, Ressu originated from an Aromanian family that migrated ...

Francisc Șirato Francisc Şirato (August 15, 1877, Craiova, Principality of Romania - August 4, 1953, Bucharest, Socialist Republic of Romania) was a Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Sout ...

Alexandru Ciucurencu Alexandru Ciucurencu (; 27 September 1903 – 27 December 1977) was a Romanian Post-Impressionist painter, and a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy. Born in Tulcea, he studied from 1921 to 1926 at the National School of Fine Arts in Bu ...

, Dimitrie Ghiață, and

Corneliu Baba Corneliu Baba (; 18 November 1906, Craiova – 28 December 1997) was a Romanian painter, primarily a portraitist, but also known as a genre painter and an illustrator of books. Early life Having first studied under his father, the academic pain ...

. The museum

lapidarium A lapidarium is a place where stone (Latin: ) monuments and fragments of archaeological interest are exhibited. They can include stone epigraphs; statues; architectural elements such as columns, cornices, and acroterions; bas reliefs, tombston ...

hosts stone carved items of old Romanian art, among which a few pieces extracted from Văcărești Monastery, demolished in 1986 at

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He ...

's order. The museum officially reopened in June 2013.

Romanit Palace

The original portion of Romanit Palace (Romanian: ''Palatul Romanit'') was erected for the early 19th-century boyar C. Faca at the corner of Calea Victoriei (then ''Podul Mogoșoaiei'') and Calea Griviței (then ''Podul Târgoviștei''). Faca died before it was completed, and it was sold to a Greek named Romanit. The Romanian writer

Ion Ghica Ion Ghica (; 12 August 1816 – 7 May 1897) was a Romanian statesman, mathematician, diplomat and politician, who was Prime Minister of Romania five times. He was a full member of the Romanian Academy and its president many times (1876–1882, ...

(1816-1897) wrote about the luxurious interior in his memoir: "... the walls of all the chambers stuccoed, imitating the rarest and most beautiful marble, the ceilings of a rare wealth and taste... The chambers all winter bedding with rich carpets from Usack and Agem and in summer with fine mats from India; coverings and thick silk curtains from Damascus and Aleppo. Chairs and sofas, all mahogany and ebony, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and gilded bronze figures dressed in Cordova leather. In all the chambers, chandeliers hung from ceilings with garlands between doors and windows, all of Venetian crystal."''„...pereții odăilor toți cu mermer (stuc), imitând marmorele cele mai rare și mai frumoase, tavanurile de o bogăție rară și de bun gust... Odăile toate așternute iarna cu covoare scumpe de Usack si Agem, iar vara cu rogojini fine de Indii; macaturile și perdelele de mătăsărie groasă de Damasc și Alep. Scaunele și canapelele, toate de lemn de mahon si abanos, incrustate cu sidefuri și cu figuri de bronz poleit, erau îmbracate cu piele de Cordova. In toate odăile, policandre atârnate de tavanuri cu ghirlandele între uși și ferestre, toate de cristal de Veneția.”'' After Romanit died in 1834, the building was rented 1834-1842 by Prince (''domnitor'')

Alexandru II Ghica Alexandru Dimitrie Ghica (1 May 1796 – January 1862), a member of the Ghica family, was Prince of Wallachia from April 1834 to 7 October 1842 and later caimacam (regent) from July 1856 to October 1858. Family He was son of Demetriu Ghica ...

, who established a chancery there, where people could come to register complaints. In 1836, the building was purchased by the State, used first as an administrative office for the Court but in the second half of the 19th century as the seat of the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

. As the Ministry came to need more space, the two wings were added, leading to the 'U' shape of the building today. File:Muzeul Colectiilor de Arta Museum of Art Collections Bucuresti Bucharest Romania.JPG File:Bucuresti, Romania. Muzeul Colectiilor de Arta (Palatul Romanit) Fantana cu statui 1; B-II-m-B-19862.JPG File:Bucuresti, Romania, Muzeul Colectiilor de Arta (Palatul Romanit) (detaliu 26) B-II-m-B-19862.JPG File:Bucuresti, Romania, Muzeul Colectiilor de Arta (Palatul Romanit) (detaliu 14) B-II-m-B-19862.JPG File:Bucuresti, Romania, Muzeul Colectiilor de Arta (Palatul Romanit) (Lapidarium); B-II-m-B-19862 (detaliu 3).JPG File:Bucuresti, Romania, Muzeul Colectiilor de Arta (Palatul Romanit) (detaliu 13) B-II-m-B-19862.JPG

Satellite museums

The Museum of Art Collections also administers two satellite museums, the Zambaccian Museum and the Theodor Pallady Museum.

References

External links

Museum official page on the National Art Museum website (as it belongs to the NAM
{{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Bucharest Palaces in Bucharest Historic monuments in Bucharest Calea Victoriei