Ion Irimescu
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Acad. Prof. Dr. Honoris Causa Ion Irimescu (February 27, 1903 – October 29, 2005) was one of Romania's greatest sculptors and sketchers as well as a Member of the Romanian Academy. In 2001 he was awarded the Prize of Excellence for Romanian Culture. He is often referred to as the "patriarch of Romanian art and sculpture".
[edit] Early life
He was born in Fălticeni, where he was a member of the first graduating class at the Nicu GaneNational College. His mother descended from an old French family withclaims to aristocracy; she was the granddaughter of Romanian writerAlexandru Cazaban (1872-1966) and Irimescu was thus the nephew ofRomanian playwright and director Jules Cazaban (1903-1963) and of his brother Theodor Cazaban (b. 1921), historian and cultural writer. As a child, while he was out at play, he found a grenade from World War Iwhich exploded in his hand and nearly killed him. Though he waseventually healed, this accident nearly destroyed his dream to become asculptor.
[edit] Artistic career
From 1924 to 1928 he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest, under Dimitrie Paciureaand Oscar Han. In 1928 he made his début at the Official Salon ofPainting and Sculpture in Bucharest, becoming a regular participantthere. In 1929 he received a scholarship to the Romanian School atFontenay aux Roses in France and exhibited at the Salon des ArtistesFrançais in Paris; in the following year he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière under Joseph Bernard.Until 1933 he participated at the Salon d'Automne and Salon duPrintemps in Paris, receiving in 1932 the Honorary Mention of the Société des Artistes Français for his self-portrait.
Irimescu returned to Romania in 1933, and from 1937 he took partregularly at the exhibitions of Tinerimea Artistică (The ArtisticYouth), a society founded in 1901 that included the most prominentRomanian artists; in 1938 he became an associate member of the society.Between 1940 and 1950 he was professor of sculpture at the Academy ofFine Arts in Iaşi, and from 1950 he was a professor at the Ion Andreescu Institute of Fine and Decorative Art in Cluj-Napoca.His 1956 participation to the Biannual Exhibition in Venice (with 15works in the Romanian pavilion) was followed by another in 1961 to acontemporary sculpture exhibition at the Musée Rodin in Paris. In 1964 he was named professor of sculpture at the Nicolae Grigorescu Institute of Plastic Arts in Bucharest, where he was a close friend of painter Corneliu Baba.He eventually became the head of the sculpture department at theInstitute. Between 1978 and 1989 he was the president of the RomanianUnion of Plastic Artists. He received the title of 'Doctor honoriscausa' from the Universities of Iaşi and Cluj and was also named'master emeritus of the people' (1964). His works have been exhibitedaround the world (Paris, Moscow, Belgrade, Budapest, Istanbul, Warsaw,Rome, Prague, Oslo, Tokyo, etc). By commission, he painted the interiorof the Opriseni Orthodox Church in his native town. In 2003, uponbecoming a centenarian, he was distinguished with a remarkable celebration by the Romanian Academy and Romanian Ministry of Culture. General School No. 2 in his native city (where Mihail Sadoveanu had studied) was renamed in his honor. The Center for Study and Creation in Fălticeni also bears his name.
Irimescu became well known not only for his large- and small-scaleportrait busts, but also for the neutral stance that he took as an'official' artist during the years of communist domination. Although hewas able to adapt to the forcefully imposed requirements of Socialist Realism(e.g. "Steel-smelter", bronze, 1954), he responded to its abolition bya new creative phase, in which he developed a vegetal morphologyinspired by his own calligraphic drawings and the malleability ofceramics. Although Irimescu produced many sculptures in stone,conceived for and erected in public spaces, he concentrated more onmodeling and on small-scale sculptures.
In 1975 a museum was established in Fălticeni with a substantialdonation from the artist. The museum building is a historic monument,dating from the middle of the 19th century and had various destinationsuntil 1974, when it was given to the art museum. In 1974 the sculptorIon Irimescu took the initiative to establish the museum, at first as adepartment of the Town Museum and made some donations. Later the valueof the collection grew, currently being the richest author collection,and in 1991 a museum emerged. It comprises the most representativeworks by the sculptor Ion Irimescu: 313 sculptures and 1000 drawings:portraits, compositions, monument project carried out in the rondebosseor alterorelief technique, in gypsum, wood, terracotta, marble, bronzeworks of graphics especially donated to the museum by the author. Themuseum also includes the artist's personal library (1500 volumes).
