Two young Romanians are inviting foreigners to discover the art studios of local artists in a series of guided tours. A slightly atypical project, 'Art in Bucharest', founded by Mircea Crisbasanu and his wife Simona, invites art lovers on guided tours that will take them to the workshops of Romanian painters, sculptors, craftsmen, theater and film artists. The main aim of the project, launched in December last year, is to promote local artists, who are 'undervalued and hardly known', Crisbasanu tells Romania-Insider.com.

Crisbasanu, a free time entrepreneur who also organizes bicycle trips, says the project is primarily addressed to foreigners because they are more receptive to the art phenomenon. "But that does not mean that Romanians are unwelcome. We all need to appreciate artists, regardless of nationality, and I think more and more Romanians are beginning to focus on this area,” Crisbasanu goes on. He is also the tour guide and in the three tours held so far, he was joined by 19 art lovers.

"The fact that Romanian artists are appreciated abroad is no secret. There have been many Romanians who impress with their works, and in many cases they are more loved abroad than in their home country. Foreigners usually have a distinct artistic culture and can afford to express it,” the Romanian guide explains.

The young Romanian, who has seen similar art tours in countries like England and Germany, plans to add a new tour during the week this spring to the existing week-end events, and to organize arts workshops in between the tours.

The idea of starting art tours in Bucharest came from an event attended last year by Mircea's wife Simona, who is a coach and communications specialist. Then, Bucharest City Hall opened art studios for the public.

The tours organized by the two not only offer information about the artistic movement in Bucharest, but also allow participants to buy art directly and discover different parts of Bucharest by walking or taking the metro.

Interest for Romanian art has been increasing in recent years and auction houses report higher and higher sales results. Artmark auction house reported total sales of almost EUR 11 million this year, representing 78 percent of Romania’s total  public sales in the art market, according to the auction house. It was more than double the year before.  Artmark was followed by Goldart auction house with a market share of 11 percent, Alis with 9 percent, and other auction houses with the remaining 2  percent of the market’s total value, according to Artmark’s year-end estimations.

Alex Camburu, alex.camburu@romania-insider.com

Further reporting and editing by Corina Saceanu