“THEODOR AMAN” MUSEUM – THEMATIC EXHIBITION “THE INACCESIBLE WORK – THE WATERCOLORS OF THEODOR AMAN”

The “Theodor Aman” Museum is pleased to invite you to the thematic exhibition “THE INACCESIBLE WORK – The Watercolors of Theodor Aman”, which will take place at the “Theodor Aman” Museum from September 28^th 2018 to March 30^th 2019 and which aims to present to the public less familiar (and some completely unusual) aspects of Theodor Aman’s work.

THE INACCESIBLE WORK – The Watercolors of Theodor Aman

The permanent exhibition of the “Theodor Aman” Museum is very rich and covers all periods and techniques that the artist used, and is also largely faithful to the interior design existent during his lifetime, as proven by the scenes that depict his home, which is currently hosting the museum. Because of this, setting-up a temporary exhibition in this space is always difficult, considering the fact that we cannot make major changes to the way paintings are displayed, or to the interior set-up that is supposed to suggest Aman’s familiar universe and which the visitor perceives and immediately identifies helped by the “witnesses” revealed in the exhibited paintings.

Despite these facts, the “Th. Aman” Museum’s patrimony hosts works of exceptional quality and special particularities, unknown to the large public, whose value demands their being exhibited. Due to their fragility many of these works (especially graphic art works) are part of a long-term inaccessible fund. The 33 watercolors and the ink drawing representing the royal symbols, exhibited in this exhibition, are part of that inaccessible fund. Many of the pictures are prep studies, some others are watercolor versions of well-known paintings and engravings and very few are original works with no replicas in other techniques. The exhibition will facilitate the discovery of the relationship between these watercolors and paintings already in display in the permanent exhibition, as well as the differences generated by the approach of the same subject in different techniques.

The intervention of a new exhibit within the permanent (and otherwise very rich) exhibition, raises serious problems with regards to the balance of the existing space.

Because of all these particularities, the works cannot be integrated into a regular exhibition and the relationship between them and the existing paintings needs a special display that can help the viewer to perceive them more easily. The intrinsic value of the works concerned is undisputable, but the proposed temporary exhibition is not only focused on presenting the public works that cannot be seen all the time, but, more importantly, on revealing aspects that are inaccessible in an exhibition with works fixed on the walls. Because of this the visitor will undergo a test as he will have to discover the temporary watercolors displayed all throughout the museum. Some of them are exhibited on easels, some on the walls, next to the paintings or the engravings that they are related to. Most of the times, although the images seem to coincide, the different techniques reveal a completely new work, surprising, sensible and fascinating. This aspect, as well as the fact that most of the watercolors have never been exhibited in the last few decades, and that at the end of this temporary exhibition they will regain their status as inaccessible works to the large public, make this exhibition a must-see and a once in a lifetime event for an entire generation.

 

Museologist Greta Șuteu

“Theodor Aman” Museum