Sibiu welcomes The Breton Muse

61 works by 29 of the best known French landscape artists in a unique show

An encounter with graphic art pieces coming from the collections of the Musée des beaux-arts de Rennes and signed by famous Breton artists in the late 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the exhibition The Breton Muse on show until February 7, 2010, at Sibiu’s Brukenthal Palace, in the Polyvalent Hall of The Blue House (first floor), is part of the cultural events organized by the cities of Rennes, France and Sibiu, Romania, to celebrate the ten years of their twining association.

Sixty-one works of watercolors, drawings, charcoal, gouache, xylographs, lithographs by twenty-nine of the best known landscape artists, such as Jean-Julien Lemordant, Charles Cottet, Camille Godet, Lucien Simon, Ernest Guérin, Émile Bernard, Paul Sérusier, Armand Séguin, Rodéric O'Conor, Maxime Maufra, Henri Rivičre etc. can be viewed, arranged in accordance with 4 thematic categories:

• The land and the peasants
• The sea and the people
• Religion, believes and customs
• In the proximity of Pont-Aven

Breton landscape artists were painting the land and the peasants, the ordinary people, their beliefs and habits. Romanian painters like Nicolae Grigorescu, Stefan Popescu and Gheorghe Patrascu were among those who worked in France and painted in the Breton style. Two of the paintings on show were created by Nicolae Grigorescu and are among the masterpieces of the Brukenthal Museum collection that were exhibited a few years ago in Washington DC.

Curators of the exhibition are Alexandru Sonoc, Dr. Iulia Mesea, Olivia Savatier and Francis Ribemont.