“Toate la vremea lor” spune o vorba din batrani, atat de nelalocul ei parca in lumea nebuna care ne infasoara. Ametit de filmul pe repede-nainte care se vede pe geam, fie al casei fie al televizorului, am intors capul cautand un ritm mai domol. Si am vazut un tablou. Era un nud fovist, vulcanic dar odihnitor si cald al lui Iosef Krijanovsky. “Al cui?”, am intrebat. Si am avut norocul sa mi se si raspunda…

Asa am patruns, impleticit si nepriceput, in lumea artei contemporane romanesti. A fost ca trecerea din hala de tricotat de la Suveica (mai exista?) intr-o camera taraneasca, cu barne le lemn joase si mirosind a lapte cald si a oaie, o odaie in care, pe o lavita, sta o batrana si toarce din fuior. Urechile tiuie si-ntr-un loc si-n celalat, dar din motive diferite.

Cu sfiosenie am creat aceasta pagina pentru a impartasi tinerilor ca mine din forta, valoarea si fascinatia artei romanesti. Mi-am propus sa culeg povesti si impresii despre artisti plastici care traiesc in aceasi lume ca si noi, au nevoi si cheltuieli, pasiuni si vicii, pacate sau gesturi expiatoare dar trec prin viata arzand si lasand in urma cenusa sau forja talentului lor.

Voi prezenta lucrarile care imi trec prin mana sau pe care voi avea sansa sa le adaug modestei mele colectii. Bine ai venit, prietene!

(Note added in November 2008, Bucharest, Romania)

Welcome, art lover! Step inside, art collector! This is a window to Romanian contemporary art.

Have you ever felt you could pass by your time’s Picasso or you could actually meet today’s Henry Moore? A year ago, in November 2007, I was struck by the fact that I was fortunate enough to live in the same city with some of the greatest Romanian artists of all time. But was I truly their contemporary? I hadn’t met any of them and most of their works are not in museums yet but in private collections. I’m a TV journalist and this could open some studio doors I thought. Plus I had the cosmic luck to receive as a priceless gift the friendship and advice of a senior art critic and one of the most discreet and respected art collector/dealer in Romania. And so I started. Everything you see on this blog is the path I walked discovering Romanian contemporary art and artists, and our yet to grow and consolidate art market and art auctions.

I’ll try to resist the temptation of transforming this blog into a compilation of data and pictures I gather along the way as I read and learn about art. Instead, this will be a source of original information collected first hand with pictures and video clips shot by myself. It’s my journey but I hope I can help others to discover Romanian art too. So, welcome, my friend!

Copyright note: Needless to say every image posted here is copyrighted. You may use it though only by specifying its source: www.artindex.ro. Thank you.