The National Art Museum of Bucharest was founded in 1948, after the Second World War, and it's first role was to house the vast Royal Collections, distributed among several cultural institutions in the country's capital. It's main destination was to offer specialists and artlovers a comprehensive and complete view of Romania art, from the Middle ages to contemporary artists, in the European context, as well as hosting exhibitions of international art. Over the decades the number and diversity of the collections continued to grow, and today the National Art Museum is one of the country's most important cultural institutions.
The building in which the museum is hosted is also an important landmark, practically in the center of Bucharest, across from the Romanian Athenaeum (Ateneul Roman) and near the The Palace Hall (Sala Palatului). On the other hand, it's long history, marked by several expansions and architectural changes, is also fascinating, as it blends with the capital's history.
The story of the building begins in 1837, when the ruler Alexandru Ghica decided to turn the house built in 1820 by Dinicu Golescu, on the Mogosoaia Bridge. The house stood on the same spot as today's museum's south wing. In 1859 - 1866 this house, although it wasn't very large or very rich, served as a palace, being inhabited by Alexandru Ioan Cuza. In 1866, on the 10th of May, Nicolae, the son of Dinicu Golescu, himself a general and an important political figure, brought here the new King of Romania, Carol of Hohenzollern. Impressed by the potential of the place, the king further extended and changed the house, both on the interior and the exterior, making it dignified of the name Royal Palace. In 1882 the palace had it's first electrical lights. From the same year and until 1906 two prestigious architects - Paul Gottereau (1882-1885) and Karl Liman (who had also worked at the building of the Peles Castle) - worked on extending the palace. By 1906, the palace had gained a look that is very close to that of today.
When Carol I passed away, in 1914, the first king of Romania had pun a special paragraph in his testament, regarding the palace and his art collection. Roughly translated : "I hope that the apartaments in the Royal Palace of Bucharest, in which currently resides the Queen, will remain at her disposal. My gallery of paintings, exactly as it is described in the illustrated catalogue of my librarian, Bachelin, will forever and whole remain in the country, as property of the Romanian Crown." In the night of 6 / 7 December 1926, a little before the death of King Ferdinand, the upper floor of the central part of the palace was destroyed in a fire. Queen Maria will eventually supervise the reconstruction, the new plans being designed by N.N. Nenciulescu and Karl Liman. ntocmesc planurile de refacere a palatului.
After becoming the new king of Romania, King Carol II supervised (1930 - 1937) the reconstruction and further expansion of the palace, with the help of the famous architect Arthur Lorentz. In this time frame the central part of the palace was completed, the old house built by Dinicu Golescu was torn down - instead of it the south wing will be made, gaining the name of Kretzulescu, due to the proximity of the nearby church. This new part of the palace was specifically dedicated to exhibiting works of art, sellections from the vast collections of the Romanian Crown. In 1940 the plans for a new wing, the north one, were finally ready and the construction was finished in 1942. Unfortunatelly, during the bombings of April 1944 this wing was one the most important objectives destroyed, a great loss for Bucharest and the arhitecture of the building.
It wasn't until 1948 that the Royal Palace on Calea Victoria (apart from the banquet and reception halls) were given to the Ministry of Arts and Information, for hosting a new national art museum. Two years later, in 1950, the first gallery of the museum was officially opened, being dedicated to the national artists of Romania. In the following years another two galleries will open : foreign art and ancient Romanian art. Until 1989 the museum became one of the most important cultural landmarks of Romania, it's collection of national and foreign artworks being one the best in Europe, especially due to the number and variety of Romanian masters, many of them highly apreciated worldwide. Also, the National Art Museum promoted and supported national art and the curators managed to present a great number of important exhibitions.
In December 1989, during the events that changed Romanian history, the building was one of the silent victims, as it was misteriously destroyed to a large degree, more than 1000 works from it's collections being destroyed or damaged. It was an act of cultural terrorism of the gravest importance, yet no one would ever be found guilty for it. The loss was hard to surpass for those who loved art. In 1990 the damaged museum was closed down for renovation, a lengthy effort that would finish in the year 2000. In May 2000 the European Art Gallery was opened, followed by the Romanian Modern Art Gallery (March 2001) and the Romanian Ancient Art Gallery (April 2002).
Photo : ici.ro
2007-11-09
