Watercolor on paper, signed and dated on the left: "BEDNARIK 1914," and inscribed by hand on the reverse
Dimensions in frame: 46x38 cm (30x23 cm)
Ignat Bednarik (Orșova 1882–1963 Bucharest) was a Romanian painter, illustrator, and graphic artist, one of the leading representatives of Symbolism in Romanian art. He studied in Bucharest, Vienna, and Munich, and his work consisted mainly of paintings and watercolors. While a student at the Traian High School in Drobeta Turnu Severin, he won first prize for his drawings in a competition organized by the Tinerimea Română association. From 1898 to 1900, Bednarik studied at the School of Fine Arts in Bucharest under the guidance of the sculptor and watercolorist Ion Georgescu. In 1901, he traveled to Vienna, where he occasionally attended classes at the Academy of Fine Arts; however, Bednarik preferred to study the masterpieces in the collections of the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Albertina. In 1909, he married Elena Alexandrina Barabaş, also a graduate of the Bucharest School of Fine Arts. Together they moved to Munich to study at the Royal School of Applied Arts. In 1910, he exhibited his works in Paris at the Autumn Salon at the Grand Palais, and for the first time in Romania, in 1913, with the Associaţia Artistică; He subsequently participated in official salons and opened his first solo exhibition in Bucharest in 1915. He created works inspired by Symbolism, mythology, and folklore, distinguished by their poetic mood and rich symbolism. He left behind over 3,000 works, which are now housed in museums and collections in Romania and abroad. Currently, his works can be viewed in collections and museums in Romania and abroad, including the National Museum of Art of Romania, the Military Museum, and the National Museum of Romanian History, the Museum of History and Art in Bucharest, the Library of the Romanian Academy, and the Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu; as well as in the Albertina collection in Vienna and in private collections in Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East.
