One of the best museums in the region, the Casa Simian Art Museum is hosted inside a splendid house in classical Romanian style, which was owned by Nae and Tita Simian, collectors who also had a factory in the town at the middle of the 20th century. It is an impressive building, rather large, the work of Romanian architects Gheorghe Smitta and Nicolae Lupu, who tried to combine the foreign in fashion influences with the traditional style. The old part of the house merges in an interesting fashion several Roman, gothic, Renaissance elements, the whole image being that of an Italian villa, very well emphasised by the exterior garden.
The quality of the architecture makes it just right for an art gallery, and each hall is a real experience, as it offers visitors a chance of discovering some important names and movements in Romanian art, featured by means of several carefully chosen artworks. Some of them are highly valuable, some are rare and rather unknown to the larger audiences - despite their importance - but each one is placed in such a manner as to be thoroughly enjoyed.
In the permanent exhibition of the Casa Simian Art Museum you will find the best names in Romanian painting of the 19th century, ranging from Grigorescu to Nicolae Vermont, from Sabin Popp to Ion Georgescu and F. Storck, providing a wealth of techniques, styles, subjects and surprises. From the first and second half of the 20th century the collection of the museum includes works by Gh. Petrascu, N. Tonitza, Th. Pallady, H. Catargi, I. Tuculescu, Margareta Sterian, Corneliu Baba, Camil Ressu, Dan Hatmanu, Sabin Balasa and many, many others. The sculpture collection is much smaller, still highly interesting for all.
There is also a contemporary art section, surprisingly rich and varied, with works by Vasile Tolan, Horia Petrutiu, Vioara Bara, Mircea Catusanu, Adrian Chira, Ion Augustin Pop, Stefan Pelmus, Epaminonda Tiotiu. This selection was completed by a sizeble donation of paintings and graphical art from Gheorghita and Gregorian Rusu. Visitors can also admire a small selection of ancient Romanian art, icons and religious items, some of these being very interesting for researchers and simple visitors alike. Also, the visit can be complemented with the rich and varied collection of graphic, drawings and watercolours, presented over the year in several temporary shows.
2008-03-21
