Romanian auction house Artmark changes management, appoints well-known writer as chairman

Romanian auction house Artmark made several management changes this March after Manuela Plapcianu withdrew from the positions of CEO and president. Plapcianu remains shareholder and member of Artmark’s Executive Board, but will now focus on social entrepreneurship in education. Horia-Roman Patapievici, a well-known Romanian writer and philosopher, is the new chairman of Artmark group starting March 20. Patapievici was previously president of the Romanian Cultural Institute ICR between 2005 and 2012 and vice-president (2008-2010) and president (2010-2011) of EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture). He will coordinate the group's expansion abroad. Alexandru Baldea, Artmark's majority shareholder, will take over as CEO. The group includes the largest art auction house in Romania Artmark, the online auction house Lavacow, dedicated to contemporary Romanian art, as well as Artmark Historical Estate, specialised in historic real estate recovery and promotion. Late Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu’s communist party card on sale in local auction Painting by Romanian Adrian Ghenie, auctioned in Romania for the first time Leading auction house in Romania to sell famous historical buildings Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com