CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2007
| Author | Asavei, Maria Alina |
|---|---|
| Title | Rewriting the Canon of Visual Arts in Communist Romania, A case study |
| Summary | This paper explores, interprets and extends the studies regarding Romanian “unofficial” art during communist period. I will analyze the role of what was called “underground” art in communist Romania between 1965 and 1980, focusing mostly on the artistic activity of four artists, regarded as the mainstream of the “unofficial” art during Ceauşescu’s rule. My analysis focuses on the visual productions of: Ion Grigorescu, Ştefan Bertalan, Geta Brătescu and Ana Lupaş, in order to provide possible answers to the question of “how can art be politically committed yet still be art” and of “what technique of cultural survival the autonomous artists used in the communist regime”. The use of the methodological procedures of oral history in the form of the interactive interviews represents not only an element of novelty in approaching the visual culture of the Romanian communist period, but also an attempt to reconstruct the artist’s intentions. Another element of novelty is the analysis of some primary sources (anti-communist artworks) which were never exhibited, commented or “discovered” before. Interpreting representational paintings and analyzing interviews with the artists involve the reconstruction of the recent past. The aim of this paper is to analyze visual artworks and to interpret the information about unofficial artist’s personality in order to reveal what we may call “the artist’s condition” and intentions under dictatorship. |
| Supervisor | Parsons Sarmany Ilona |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2007/asavei_maria.pdf |
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