Great Masters of Painting in the Museums of Rumania [antikvár]

The third edition of this album is intended, like the previous ones, to draw the attention of experts in the history of the arts and of art lovers in Rumania and abroad to some of the paintings, belonging to various European schools, on show in Rumanian art museums and public collections. /VIost of them are not mentioned in current bibliographies. Owing to the fact that they formerly belonged to private collections, such as the royal collections, for instance, their existence was practically unknown to the public and even to most research workers. After the,proclamation of the Rumanian People's Republic, however, the most valuable works of world art to be found in this country have been assembled and displayed, according to scientific standards, in the Art Museum of the Rumanian People's Republic, now entirely reorganized, as well as in other museums. We feel sure that whoever examines the reproductions in this album will find that in addition to such masterpieces there are a good many other paintings that could help to complete the work of great artists of the past. It suffices to mention the Art Museum of the Rumanian People's Republic whose rooms reserved to the Flemish, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian and French schools include numerous works of outstanding value. Apart from art galleries that enjoy world-wide fame there are not many which can boast of being in possession of works like Van Eyck's and Memling's portraits, for instance, or of a sketch like the one representing Summer by Jordaens, if we refer only to some examples of Flemish art. Passing on to another Important institution, such as the Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu, we find there other remarkable canvases belonging to the same school: two perfectly preserved portraits — Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier — by Rubens, paintings by Van Dyck, Jordaens, etc. The group of genre painters is represented by numerous works and from among these we have chosen for reproduction an impressive portrait and the Village Fete by David Teniers. The portrait is a subject rarely met with in the work of this Flemish ,, Little Master." The village fete, on the other hand, is a theme one often comes across