Drawings by Nicolae Grigorescu

Among the drawings of the most representative Romanian artists preserved in the Romanian Academy Library are the drawings of Nicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907). More than 345 drawings, watercolours and pastels are included in the collection.

Nicolae Grigorescu was educated in France, at Barbizon. He is the promoter of a new artistic way of thinking, choosing the plein-air, which he treats according his own temperament and artistic vision. Known as the greatest lyrical artist of Romanian painting, his art reflects the village microcosm, landscapes of a calm beauty, being also a creator of psychological portraits.

As an example the collection offers 'Fancy-Dress Man'. This portrait, as well as Rodica, Old Jew, shows the artist’s concern for the line elegance, the psychological study of faces, focusing either on movement, or dreamy and serene in resting, tragic in capturing the passage of time. The precious silhouette of costume, enlightened with white chalk, is cut in charcoal hatchings and estompe, creating an illusory world of the carnival costume.