Several Romanian art masterpieces, signed by iconic Romanian painters such as Nicolae Tonitza, Nicolae Grigorescu, Stefan Luchian, Gheorghe Petrascu, and Ion Tuculescu, will be sold at Artmark’s Spring Auction, scheduled for March 20, 2012, at the JW Marriott Grand Hotel in Bucharest. The maximum combined value of the lots is estimated at around EUR 2 million, according to the auction house. The most valuable section is the ‘Treasury’ one, which includes around 30 paintings signed by Romanian modernist artists.

The auction’s central piece is the painting ‘Trei frati’ (Three brothers) - The Painter’s Children (in picture), signed Nicolae Tonitza. The price for this painting is estimated between EUR 100,000 and EUR 200,000. There will be a second Nicolae Tonita painting, namely ‘Nud cu spatele’ (Nude), with a price estimated between EUR 70,000 and EUR 120,000.

Nicolae Grigorescu's ‘Treasury’ masterpiece- ‘Care cu boi la asfintit’ (Bull carts at sunset)  has an estimated price between EUR 60,000 and EUR 120,000.

In 2011, the painting ‘In Iatac’ by Nicolae Tonitza became the most expensive painting sold in an Artmark auction, going for EUR 290,000, followed by the painting ‘Tarancuta odihnindu-se’ (Little peasant girl resting) by Nicolae Grigorescu, sold for EUR 270,000.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com