The exhibition Old Maps and New Art: 500 Years of Old History and New Art in 100 Objects from the Emilian Radu Collection is set to open next week at the Museum of Art Collections in Bucharest.

The exhibition, curated by Erwin Kessler, brings together a selection of 100 representative items from the Emilian Radu collection, put together over the past two decades.

The collection began in 2001 with a series of acquisitions of antiques and old maps, especially maps related to the Romanian Principalities, the Balkans, and Southeastern Europe. These were followed by rare books, vintage photography, and historical documents, alongside works and objects of remarkable historical and biographical significance connected to the sixteenth century and to the Romanian avant-garde of the twentieth century.

What started as a traditional collection built by an avid explorer of museums, antique shops, and auction houses around the world evolved, after 2010, into the collection of a frequent visitor to artists’ studios and ultimately of a genuine patron of contemporary artists. The collector became an active supporter of artistic creation.

The curatorial concept brings together, in a visual and historical dialogue, the White Series by the Prolog group in contrast with African tribal masks; documents issued by Napoleon Bonaparte and Wallachia Prince Constantin Brâncoveanu; Western maps and local liturgical books paired with Tara von Neudorf’s bibliophile reinterpretations; as well as a journey through the Romanian contemporary art scene, from Ana Lupaș to Mircea Cantor, highlighting moments from the work of Ion Grigorescu, Ecaterina Vrana, Dumitru Gorzo, and Victoria and Marian Zidaru.

The history of Romania, along with the preservation and promotion of its artistic and visual values and landmarks, forms the conceptual core of the collection, whose brand could be succinctly described as Imago Romaniae, an exhibition presentation explains.

The exhibition can be visited between May 15 and September 22.

(Illustration: MNAR)

simona@romania-insider.com