ART COLLECTORS IN INTERWAR ROMANIA. INTERFERENCES WITH THE ART SCHOOL IN VIENNA.

Referring to the knowledge and deepening in the plastic art, besides the growing artistic talent manifested in the field of creation, it can be undoubtedly asserted that a remarkable contribution to it has been and still is its art amateurs - the collectors, that have shown their passion, first in their own interest or for personal pleasure, as they later realized, that plastic art and valuable artistic creations must be given to the public. In interwar Romania, collectors have morally awarded their status and have exerted concretely the formative functions of a genuine "institution" that in many circumstances proved more effective than the administrative system in driving the artistic phenomenon. My considerations therefore bear in mind the model of the emblematic collector who, entering the world of forms and colors of art, comes in synergy with the creators and lives the unique experience of building their personality and of aesthetic legitimacy through the discovered and accredited values. In such a context, we must also integrate Octavian Mosescu, a remarkable personality of the last century, whose support both spiritual and material was decisive in setting up this phenomenom. Through scientific research, fieldwork and studying the archives of the Romanian Academy, I discovered that he was formed in Vienna, where he studied history of art with professor Josef Strzygowsky, considered one of the most important members of the School of Art History in Vienna. Perhaps the prestige and charm of Professor Strzygowski attracted and marked Octavian Moşescu, becoming for him a landmark in intellectual work and an example in his attachment to art history. The knowledge gained during the Vienna studies was decisive both in his professional training and in the definition of his human character. After setting up in Balcik the art department of the city's museum through a generous donation, in 1961, Octavian Moşescu took the initiative to organize the Art Museum in Râmnicu Sarat, whose foundation he also supported by a substantial donation. But this was not the only one. It is worth mentioning the donations he made to other museums in the country, including the Pinacotheque of Bucharest, a collection with a tumultuous history since its founding. The Bucharest Pinacotheque is a collection of artworks founded on 1 June 1933, by royal decree, by King Carol II of Romania. Originally only 103 works, the majority of them paintings, coming from Bucharest City Hall collections, the art collection fund has grown rapidly, and its inventory reached 756 works in 1939, some bought from municipal funds, others from private donations, works belonging to well-known Romanian artists and to the most important European painting schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]