The National Museum of Art of Romania (MNAR) announces the opening of the exhibition "The Group of Four (1925 – 1934): Oscar Han, Ștefan Dimitrescu, Nicolae Tonitza and Francisc Șirato". The exhibition will be open to the public starting Sunday, July 9, 2023 until Sunday, September 24, 2023, at the Museum of Art Collections, Calea Victoriei 111, building C ground floor. The opening will take place on Saturday, July 8, 2023 at 18.00. The exhibition is part of the museum's objective to present significant artistic groups in Romanian art history. The previous exhibition on this topic, "A forgotten history – The Union of Fine Arts in Romania" opened in 2022.

The exhibition presents works of the painters Nicolae Tonitza, Ștefan Dimitrescu, Francisc Șirato and the sculptor Oscar Han starting with the first joint exhibition in 1926 in which they exhibited works made between 1921 and 1925 and until 1934, a time span in which they were active under the name "The Group of Four". The purpose of setting up this group was to organize annual exhibitions according to their own exhibition directions, with emphasis "on unitary color agreement" and a modern presentation, "without canons and rules", in an appropriate space dedicated to works of art. The group dissolved itself due to the death of Ștefan Dimitrescu in 1933, and the last exhibition took place in March 1934.

The opening speech will belong to the musicians from the Holograf group, composed of Dan Bittman, Tino Furtuna, Edi Petrosel, Iulian Vrabete and Romeo Dediu,  a band that has been successful for over four decades. Continuing the series of exhibitions presented by personalities from fields other than visual arts, we wish to highlight the fact that our exhibitions are addressed to the general public, not only to specialists. The creations of the Holograf Group as well as those of the Group of Four address all categories of audiences.

The activity of the Group of Four is represented by approximately one hundred works of painting and sculpture that are part of the collection of the National Museum of Art of Romania, including the collections of E. and dr. I. N. Dona, K. H. Zambaccian, dr. E. Anca, av. H. Aznavorian, Sică Alexandrescu, dr. Ș. Andronescu Ghica, I. Pas and E. Taru.

Within the exhibition, segments from each exhibition event organized within the group are reconstructed. Also, the works that have aroused discussions and echoes since then are highlighted, meanwhile becoming reference works that have ensured the place of artists in the history of modern Romanian art. The exhibition will contain a chronological presentation of the group and of each artist as well as additional information about a series of works under developed labels.

Exhibition organized by: Liliana Chiriac, Monica Croitoru-Tonciu, Ilinca Damian.

Collaborators: Marina Iliescu, Gabriela Vasiliu, Costina Anghel, Paula Luca, Nela Mihai, Lidia Marinescu, Ionuț Sâmbeteanu.

The exhibition will be open from July 9, 2023 to September 24, 2023 and will include educational activities and conferences.