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

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

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

Biography

Bălașa was born in Dobriceni,

Olt County Olt County () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia (the regions are separated by the Olt River, Olt river). The capital city is Slatina, Roma ...

. After completing his secondary education at Frații Buzești High School in

Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...

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

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, graduating in 1955. He continued his studies at

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

and

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

, in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In 1973 and 1976 the Bucharest Mayor's office ordered and paid him to paint the portraits of Nicolae and

Elena Ceaușescu Elena Ceaușescu (; born Lenuța Petrescu; 7 January 1916 – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician who was the wife of Nicolae Ceaușescu, General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party and leader of the Socialist Republic o ...

. 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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, Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member ...

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

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' 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, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

at Sfânta Maria Hospital in Bucharest and was buried at Eternitatea Cemetery in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

Works

Murals

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

fresco Fresco ( 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 plaster, the painting become ...

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

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

: *''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 Romanians, Romanian Romanticism, Romantic poet, novelist, and journalist from Moldavia, generally regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Emin ...

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 Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

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 nine animated painting movies: *''Picătura'' (The Drop) – 1966 *''Orașul'' (The City) – 1967 *''Valul'' (The Wave) – 1968 *''Pasărea Phoenix'' (The Phoenix Bird) – 1968 *''Fascinații'' (Fascinations) – 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 The National Museum of Art of Romania () is located in the Royal Palace in Revolution Square, central Bucharest. It features collections of medieval and modern Romanian art, as well as the international collection assembled by the Romanian r ...

, 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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balasa, Sabin 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