Horia Damian
Encyclopedia
Horia Damian is a Romania
n painter and sculptor.
He enrolled at the School of Architecture in Bucharest
in 1941, that same year he made his debut at the Salonul Official de Pictura at Sala Dalles in Bucharest. He had his first one-man show at the Ateneul Roman in Bucharest in 1942 and was awarded the Anastase Simu Prize for painting. In 1946, he won a scholarship to Paris, where he later settled. After a few months with André Lhote
he worked with Daniel Lager in 1949-50 and then studied with Auguste Herbin
, also becoming acquainted with Mondrian's work through Felix del Marle (1889–1952). This encounter with abstract art led to his first really original paintings, such as Starry Night (1951; see 1976 exh. cat., p. 44), which consists of a geometric arrangement of white dots. He destroyed most of the works he produced during the second half of the 1950s, an experimental period for him. His works of the early 1960s, executed in oil on a polyester base, are in a gestural, impasto style close to Tachism, as in Constellation (1961; Turin, Int. Cent. Aesth.). By the late 1960s, his work had become increasingly geometric and sculptural, as exemplified by the Throne series (begun 1967; e.g. polyurethane and polyester, 1969; Figueres, Teat.-Mus. Dali); these are not free-standing sculptures but rather set against plain backgrounds. The first of his large-scale monuments, 'Galaxy', a project for a Monument at Houston, Texas (see 1980 exh. cat., p. 42), was designed in 1972 and constructed in 1974 at the Neue Galerie in Aachen. Several further monuments in the Galaxy series were constructed, others remaining as maquettes. His fascination with the monumental continued in 'The Hill' (see 1976 exh. cat.), constructed for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
in New York from styrofoam covered with tiny paper spheres and then painted yellow. This was followed by similar monuments, such as that for San Francisco, which is illustrated in the gouache Project for San Francisco (1979; Marseille, Mus. Cantini; see also 1980 exh. cat.).
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n painter and sculptor.
He enrolled at the School of Architecture in Bucharest
Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism
The Universitatea de Arhitectură şi Urbanism Ion Mincu din Bucureşti is a public university in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1952....
in 1941, that same year he made his debut at the Salonul Official de Pictura at Sala Dalles in Bucharest. He had his first one-man show at the Ateneul Roman in Bucharest in 1942 and was awarded the Anastase Simu Prize for painting. In 1946, he won a scholarship to Paris, where he later settled. After a few months with André Lhote
André Lhote
André Lhote was a French sculptor and painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes and still life. He was also very active and influential as a teacher and writer on art....
he worked with Daniel Lager in 1949-50 and then studied with Auguste Herbin
Auguste Herbin
Auguste Herbin was a French painter.-Biography:Born in Quiévy, Nord, he studied drawing at the École des Beaux-Arts de Lille, from 1898 to 1901, when he settled in Paris....
, also becoming acquainted with Mondrian's work through Felix del Marle (1889–1952). This encounter with abstract art led to his first really original paintings, such as Starry Night (1951; see 1976 exh. cat., p. 44), which consists of a geometric arrangement of white dots. He destroyed most of the works he produced during the second half of the 1950s, an experimental period for him. His works of the early 1960s, executed in oil on a polyester base, are in a gestural, impasto style close to Tachism, as in Constellation (1961; Turin, Int. Cent. Aesth.). By the late 1960s, his work had become increasingly geometric and sculptural, as exemplified by the Throne series (begun 1967; e.g. polyurethane and polyester, 1969; Figueres, Teat.-Mus. Dali); these are not free-standing sculptures but rather set against plain backgrounds. The first of his large-scale monuments, 'Galaxy', a project for a Monument at Houston, Texas (see 1980 exh. cat., p. 42), was designed in 1972 and constructed in 1974 at the Neue Galerie in Aachen. Several further monuments in the Galaxy series were constructed, others remaining as maquettes. His fascination with the monumental continued in 'The Hill' (see 1976 exh. cat.), constructed for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
in New York from styrofoam covered with tiny paper spheres and then painted yellow. This was followed by similar monuments, such as that for San Francisco, which is illustrated in the gouache Project for San Francisco (1979; Marseille, Mus. Cantini; see also 1980 exh. cat.).