One of Romania's most famous paintings, on sale at local auction
Anemone (Anemones), probably the best-known painting by famous Romanian artist Stefan Luchian, will be put up for sale at an Artmark auction this October, for a starting price of EUR 150,000. The 100 Great Masters of the Romanian Art auction will take place at Athenee Palace Hilton in Bucharest on October 29.
Anemone, which Luchian painted in 1908, was part of academician Emanoil Pantazi’s collection. Although he donated his collection to the Romanian Academy, he kept six works for himself, including this painting called Anemone. However, the Romanian state confiscated the six paintings.
The painting has sat in the past years in the famous Vila Lac 3, a state-owned property often used by Romania's former President Traian Basescu, who has admired it many times, according to Artmark.
In March 2014, Romania's High Court of Cassation and Justice ruled that the six paintings should return to Emanoil Pantazi’s heirs. Anemone is classified as a thesaurus piece and is part of the national cultural heritage. This is why, the Ministry of Culture might be interested in buying the painting.
The expected selling price is much higher than the EUR 150,000 starting price, as Stefan Luchian is currently the best quoted Romanian classic painter. His painting Doua Muze (Two Muses) was sold for EUR 300,000 in 2013, becoming the most valuable work traded at a public auction in Romania.
Anemone is on display at Artmark's Cesianu-Racovita Palace until October 28.
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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com
