Sabin Bălașa (; June 17, 1932 – April 1, 2008) was a contemporary

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. His works were described by himself as belonging to cosmic Romanticism.

Biography

Bălașa was born in Dobriceni, Olt County. After completing his secondary education at Frații Buzești High School in

Craiova Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximatel ...

in 1950, he attended the Nicolae Grigorescu Fine Arts Institute in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, graduating in 1955. He continued his studies at

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and

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, in

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. In 1973 and 1976 the Bucharest Mayor's office ordered and paid him to paint the portraits of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. In the late 1980s, Bălașa was accused of promoting Ceaușescu's cult of personality. In December 2000 he was awarded by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Emil Constantinescu Emil Constantinescu () (born 19 November 1939) is a Romanian professor and politician, who served as the President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member and vice president ...

the National Order of Merit, Commander rank. In June 2005, Bălașa sued the French newspaper ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' for defamation after the paper reproduced a propaganda painting by another painter, claiming it was one of his. Le Monde subsequently acknowledged the error. He died in 2008 from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

at Sfânta Maria Hospital in Bucharest and was buried at

Eternitatea Cemetery Eternitatea is the biggest cemetery in Iași, Romania. Notable interments * Vasile Adamachi, philanthropist * Petre Andrei, sociologist and politician * Dimitrie Anghel, poet and writer * Alexandru Bădărău, politician, academic, and journa ...

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

Works

Murals

Among Bălașa's most notable works are several large-scale

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

paintings. These include 19 murals, covering approximately , which decorate the interior of the

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia Mih ...

: *''Aspirație'' (Aspiration) – 380/546 cm *''Omagiu Întemeietorilor'' (Homage To The Founders) – 372/471 cm *''Amfiteatru'' (Amphitheatre) – 452/400 cm *''Generații'' (Generations) – 452/379 cm *''Triumful vieții'' (Triumph of Life) – 420/249 cm *''Dezastrul atomic'' (Atomic Disaster) – 420/249 cm *''Icar'' (Icarus) – 422/248 cm *''Prometeu'' (Prometheus) – 417/247 cm *''Exodul spre lumină'' (Exodus Towards the Light) – 416/247 cm *''Ștefan Cel Mare'' – 419/250 cm *''Moldova'' (Moldavia) – 430/265 cm *''Luceafărul'' – triptych 429/267 cm, 430/267 cm, 431/269 cm Bălașa used the image of

Mihai Eminescu Mihai Eminescu (; born Mihail Eminovici; 15 January 1850 – 15 June 1889) was a Romanian Romantic poet from Moldavia, novelist, and journalist, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active membe ...

depicted in the nearby

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

to paint the fresco in the university lobby, identifying the poet with the hero of '' Luceafărul''.

Animated painting movies

Bălașa was the author and director of 12 animated painting movies: *''Picătura'' (The Drip) – 1966 *''Orașul'' (The City) – 1967 *''Valul'' (The Wave) – 1968 *''Pasărea Phoenix'' (The Phoenix Bird) – 1968 *''Fascinație'' (Fascination) – 1969 *''Întoarcere în viitor'' (Return to the Future) – 1971 *''Galaxia'' (The Galaxy) – 1973 *''Oda'' (The Ode) – 1975 *''Exodul spre lumină'' (Exodus Towards the Light) – 1979

Galleries in Romania and abroad

Rome 1978; Rome 1980; Stockholm 1982; National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest 1982; Kerkera Greece 1985; Moscow, Tbilisi and other capital cities of the ex-USSR 1988; Bucharest, 1992; Israel 1994; Bucharest World Trade Center 2000;

, Iași 2002; Bucharest 2005.

References

External links

Paintings by Sabin Bălașa
1932 births 2008 deaths People from Olt County Bucharest National University of Arts alumni Romanian muralists 20th-century Romanian painters Recipients of the National Order of Merit (Romania) Deaths from lung cancer in Romania Burials at Eternitatea cemetery {{Romania-painter-stub