Collection

  • Şerban Savu, Steelworkers , 2015

    courtesy of Dawid Radziszewski Gallery

Şerban Savu (born 1978) is one of the most important painters of the Romania’s young generation. He received artistic education at the Cluj-Napoca Art University, where artists such as Victor Man and Adrian Ghenie also studied. Their work has been included in the new wave of Romanian painting, referred to as the “Cluj school”. Savu refers to the tradition of classical European painting, especially Italian and French, such as landscapes by Poussin and Lorrain, as well as representations of peasants by Pieter Bruegel and Jean-Frainçois Millet. At the same time, by means of painting he tells the story of his contemporary times - today's Romania and its inhabitants. The artist most often paints workers, people performing simple works or overwhelmed with idleness, among the architecture characteristic of the “peripheries” of Europe. The latest paintings, one of which has been selected as a proposed purchase for the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, refer to the 20th century concept of the “New Man” - a farmer who finds himself in a new, modernised, industrial context. The new series was inspired by the realities of Mănăştur, the workers' district of Cluj-Napoca. The characters pose at their workplaces or spend their time idly among housing projects and garages. The protagonist of the selected painting is a maintenance technician who found an old propaganda mural. This painting perfectly combines the painting tradition with contemporary themes, representing the spirit of contemporary Eastern Europe.

 

Ed.: unikat
Year: 2015
Medium: oil on panel
Format: 47×66.5 cm

Material: oil paint, panel
Acquisition: purchase
Ownership form: collection
Source: Galeria Dawid Radziszewski
Index: MSN: 4300-06/2016
Acquisition date:
Financing source: Cofinanced by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage under the 'National collections of contemporary art 2016' priority

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