ART AND NATION: ROMANIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS (1898-1910)
ART AND NATION: ROMANIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS (1898-1910)

Summary/Abstract: Art and Nation: Romanian Arts and Crafts (1898-1910). At the end of the 19th century Art Nouveau, known as Seccession, Modern Style, Stile Floreale etc. interfered as a stilistic common denominator in the European cultures. Seen as a cultural import in Romania fin de siècle in the context of the development of a National Art, the emergence of Art Nouveau stired interesting debates among art critics and prominent intelectuals of the moment. In fact, this issue brought into discussion what a National Art means, how this Art could preserve Romanian Identity and in the same time to recommend it for an Western audience in a modern way, not just as popular culture or worth studying ethnographically material. In the quest for a modern significance of National Art, some critics as Leon Bachelin found a way to exploit the Byzantine tradition of ornamental painting which adorns the monasteries all over the country in the context of the Aplied Arts. Fairy tales, legends, ballads offered the source of inspiration for artist who transposed tradition in a new style. The interest found among the members of Romanian Royal Court for both Art Nouveau and Romanian folklore and traditions led to an interesting phenomenon of cross-cultural communication illustrated by the works of Queen Elisabeth and Queen Mary as well as by their cutlural initiative. The tensions between inwardness of traditional culture and the aparent frivolousness and cosmopolitan appereance of the new style consisted in creating of a new concept of beauty linked with what was supossed to be Romanian identity and National Art.

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