Nicolae Grigorescu, father of Romanian painters, on Yareah magazine

by Isabel del Río

He was born in Pitaru, Dambovita (at that time, called Tara Romaneasca) in 1838.
His father was a peasant but in 1843, the family moved to Bucarest. There, when Nicolae was 10 y. o. entered Anton Chladek’s atelier to learn painting. They made icons to the church of Baicoi and to the monastery of Caldarusani.
As a young man, he continued painting for churches: big murals on the walls that we can appreciate in Zamfira, Prahova and Agapia. However, he was attracted by the political ideas of his time (in 1859 Tara Romaneasca and Moldavia were unified) and he painted a historical work, “Mihai Viteazu” based on Dimitrie Bolintineanu’ poem and in his unionist ideas. Then, he was granted to study in France by powerful men of the future Romania.

Read more:
http://www.yareah.com/magazine/index.php/arts-arte/448-nicola-grigorescu-father-of-romanian-painting