Dan Hatmanu

He was a Romanian painter and graphic artist. Dan Hatmanu was a deputy in the Great National Assembly during the 1985–1989 legislature.

In the first part of his creative activity, he produced portraits and landscapes in a realist–traditional vision, which he later abandoned in favor of a constructivist formula with figurative references and humorous nuances.

Years of Study

In 1945, he enrolled at the Institute of Arts in Iași, where his professors included Corneliu Baba and Ion Irimescu, graduating in 1950. He passed a competitive examination through which he received the Nicolae Grigorescu scholarship of the Romanian Academy, consisting of one year of study in Leningrad and one year in Paris. Consequently, he pursued advanced studies at the Repin Academy in Leningrad (1962–1963) and at the Free Academy in Paris, continuing afterward at the International Institute for Pedagogical Studies in Sèvres (1964–1965).

Artistic Activity

After making his debut in 1948, Dan Hatmanu participated in numerous collective and group exhibitions and organized dozens of solo exhibitions in Romania and abroad.[4] Among his most important participations in exhibitions outside the country are the following:

• 1954 – Venice Biennale

• 1958 – Prague, Sofia, Tehran, Moscow

• 1959 – Budapest, Vienna

• 1962 – Cairo, Athens, Paris, Ankara, Istanbul

• 1974 – Tokyo, Osaka

• 1975 – Skopje, Havana

• 1977 – Lisbon, Prague

• 1981 – Vienna

• 1985 – Stuttgart, Venice, Perugia

He created book illustrations for works by Ionel Teodoreanu, Anton Bacalbașa, Petru Prânzei, and Valentin Ciucă.

His works can be found in museums in Romania—the Municipal Museum of Huși, the Art Museum of Iași, the Art Museum of Piatra Neamț, the “Casa Simian” Art Museum in Râmnicu Vâlcea—as well as in museums and private collections abroad: Rio de Janeiro, Valletta, Poitiers, Mexico City, Prague, France, Italy, Israel, Greece, and Germany.

One of his most controversial paintings depicted the couple Elena Ceaușescu and Nicolae Ceaușescu clinking a glass of red wine with the ruler Stephen the Great, who extends a hand from the painting holding a glass.

Works

(selection)

• The series “Former Mayors of Iași”, paintings exhibited in the Grand Hall of the Roznovanu Palace.

Teaching Activity

After graduating from the Academy, he was appointed as a guide at the Art Museum of Iași, later working as a teacher of drawing, painting, and composition at the Secondary School of Fine Arts. From 1960, he served as a lecturer at the three-year Pedagogical Institute within Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, and in 1970 he was awarded the title of professor. From 1977, he carried out his teaching activity at the Faculty of Fine Arts within the George Enescu Conservatory. In 1992, he retired, becoming a consulting professor.

He was a university professor at the George Enescu Conservatory in Iași, where he also held the position of rector (1984–1990).

Writings

• Amintiri în timp (Memories in Time), Pallas Publishing House, 2006

Awards and Distinctions

• Second Prize at the International Youth Festival (Warsaw, 1955)

• Silver Medal at the International Youth Festival (Moscow, 1957)

• Ion Andreescu Prize of the Academy (1976)

• International Colosseum Prize, awarded by the Centro d’Arte e Cultura Nuova Figurazione (Rome, 1979)

• Title of Professor Emeritus (1980)

• Critics’ Prize, awarded by the Union of Visual Artists (UAP) (1985)

• Diploma of Excellence for lifetime achievement, the title of honorary citizen, and ambassador of Iași County (October 31, 2006)

• Title of Excellence for lifetime achievement awarded by the Iași Prefecture (November 30, 2011)

Decorations

• Medal of Labor (June 9, 1954), “for outstanding merits in the field of visual arts”

• Order “Cultural Merit,” 4th Class (1968), “for distinguished activity in the field of visual arts”

• Order “Cultural Merit,” 3rd Class (April 20, 1971), “for outstanding merits in the work of building socialism, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Romanian Communist Party”

• National Order “For Merit,” Knight rank (December 1, 2000), “for remarkable artistic achievements and for promoting culture, on Romania’s National Day”