Romania's Expressionism & Tonitza at the National Museum of Art

The National Museum of Art of Romania in Bucharest is the most important museum of art, housed in the Royal Palace and established in 1948. Nicolae Tonitza is one of the representatives of Romania’s Expressionism because of his major role in modern art, Tonitza himself being a pioneer. My favorite painting of his is the "Forester’s Daughter". I remember, my parents had a poster with this exact painting on their wall, and I practically grew up staring at it. One can see most of Tonitza’s artworks in the National Museum of Art.

Muzeul Național de Artă al României

49-53, Calea Victoriei, 030167 Bucharest, Romania

The National Museum of Art of Romania

One can find the largest collection of paintings in Romania at the National Museum of Art of Romania. It is housed in the building of the Royal Palace, created in 1937, that also keeps the collection of King Carol the First. It consists of over 70.000 exhibits, and it hosts both Romanian and European art. The collection of Romanian Art is exhibited in 11 rooms - from the artists of modern school to avant-garde, the work of Constantin Brâncuși and the interwar period. Nicolae Tonitza’s artworks are exposed in the Halls X and XI.

Nicolae Tonitza

Nicolae Tonitza is one of Romania’s greatest painters. He attended the Iași National School of Fine Art, followed by the studies at the Royal Academy of Art in Munich. He spent three years in Paris, analysing the European modern art, particularly the Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Rembrandt and Correggio. He painted the frescoes of several churches in Moldavia, but his most impressive work is the collection of paintings he left behind.

The Forester's Daughter

One of the most popular paintings created by Nicolae Tonitza - the Forester’s Daughter, was made in the years 1924-1926. It shows us the artists sympathy for the childhood universe and designing the childhood based on his state of mind. Similar to many of Tonitza’s portraits, the eyes are the center of interest: though directed to the painter, her eyes turn back to herself, as if she was trying to gain the access to an inaccessible inner world. The girl is placed in the center of the painting, in the middle of nature. Some art critics even say that Tonitza painted his daughter, as at that time, he had only a modest atelier.

The painting is of medium dimensions, 63 x 53,5 cm. The contrasts in the painting are created by the green oak leaves (with a dotting of white and orange) and a red dress with white collars. There are two leaves that fall on the red dress, and this is how the background is interrupted and brought to the front. You can see this painting of Tonitza and Romania's Expressionism at the National Museum of Art of Romania.