| Abstrakt: |
The participation of Romania in the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair (organized under the unifying theme "The World of Tomorrow"), coordinated by Commissioner General Dimitrie Gusti, marked a stellar moment in the representation of Romanianness. Two iconic buildings, "The Romanian Pavilion" (the work of architect and prince G.M. Cantacuzino), and "The Romanian House" (projected by architect Octav Doicescu) were erected at the site of the event and hosted an impressive collec tion of Romanian fine and decorative art, meant to illustrate national identity and the evolution of Romanian art. The collection comprised of works of the most important artists of late 19th century and 20th century, such as: paintings by Th. Aman, N. Grigorescu, I. Andreescu, Th. Pallady, Gh. Petrașcu, N. Tonitza, Francisc Șirato, Arthur Verona, I. Theodorescu-Sion, Lucian Grigorescu, Marius Bunescu, N. Dărăscu, N. Vermont, Rodica Maniu, Samuel Mützner; sculptures by Cornel Medrea, Oscar Han, Mihai Onofrei, Mac Constantinescu, Milița Petrașcu, I. Jalea; monumental and decorative art by Olga Greceanu, Dem Demetrescu, Lena Constante, Nora Steriadi, Paul Miracovici, Petre Grant, Al. Mazilescu (together with religious artifacts and folk art). With the outbreak of WWII, the artworks showed at the World's Fair never returned to Romania. The collection was dispersed in several places in the USA. A large number of works (sculptures, mosaics, furniture, ceramics) ended up at "St. Mary" Romanian Orthodox Cathedral of Cleveland, OH. As for the paintings, they were considered lost forever. My paper will present, for the first time, the fate of two of the paintings: Întoarcerea de la târg (Return from the Country Fair) by Francisc irato and Spartul Horei (Last Spin at a Hora) / Joc (Folk Dance) by Arthur Verona. I discovered them at the Romanian Orthodox Parish "St. Dumitru", Manhattan. The church was dedicated to St. Dumitru as an homage to Dimitrie Gusti, and was consecrated on July 23, 1939 in a ceremony followed by luncheon at the "Romanian Pavilion". The two masterpieces are representative of the Romanian national propaganda at the Fair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
