Radu Aftenie is mainly attracted to stone and wood. He manages to transform these raw materials / feed stocks into sculptural forms with a broad register of expressions. He treats the human being as a reality necessary to his discourse on world and this is why he constantly recurs to human being, approaching it from different points of view. Sometimes tempted by a metaphorical construction, the sculptor emphasises one motif or another, which becomes the dominant of the whole composition. In most of his works, the dialogue between man and environment implies a serious note, the human forms being distinguished due to a dramatic effort, finally being translated in space through a game of sculptural continuities and discontinuities.
Constantin Prut
(Bucharest, Romania, 1936)
Higher Education:
1956 - 1962 - Institute of Fine Arts "Nicolae Grigorescu", with professor Cornel Medrea, București, România;
1963 - 1965 - "Frederic Storck" National Sculpture Scholarship.
Member of Romanian Fine Arts Union
Solo Exhibitions*:
1963 - "Simu" Museum, București, România;
1964 - "Ministry of Culture" Gallery, București, România;
1971 - "Simeza" Gallery (sculpture and drawing), București, România;
1976 - The National Art Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria;
1979 - Contemporary Art Museum, Galați, România;
1981 - Contemporary Art Museum, Galați, România;
1982 - "Orizont" Gallery, București, România;
- "Dalles" Art Gallery, București, România;
1983 - Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu, România;
1984 - The National Museum of Art of Romania, București, România;
1986 - Municipal Museum, Piteşti, România;
1987 - "Orizont" Gallery, București, România;
1992 - "Apollo" Gallery, București, România;
1993 - "Orizont" Gallery, București, România;
1997 - The Art Gallery from Medgidia, Constanța, România;
1999 - The Art Gallery of "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism, București, România;
2000 - "Apollo" Gallery, București, România;
2001 - "Simeza" Gallery, București, România;
2002 - "Anya Tish" Gallery, Huston, Texas, USA;
2009, 2012 - The Art Gallery of the Romanian Fine Arts Union from Sibiu;
2012 - Radu Aftenie. Sculpture, Graphic Arts, Brukenthal Palace, Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu, România.
Group Exhibitions**:
1967 - "Simeza" Gallery, București, România;
- National Art Exhibition The Revolutionary Year 1848, "Dalles" Gallery, București, România;
1968 - "Simeza" Gallery, București, România;
1969 - "Dalles" Art Gallery, București, România;
- Romanian Art, Tel Aviv, Israel;
- Romanian Art, Titograd (Podgorica), Yugoslavia;
- Romanian Art, Warsaw, Poland;
- Romanian Art, Rijeka, Croatia;
1970 - The International Exhibition The Victory over Fascism, Warsaw, Poland;
1973 - "Frederich Schiller" Gallery, București, România;
1974 - The National Museum of Art of Romania, București, România;
- The Romanian Army in Fine Arts, "Dalles" Art Gallery, București, România;
1975 - Artists during Women's International Year, Palace of the Parliament, București, România;
1976 - The Art Gallery of Romanian Athenaeum, București, România;
- The International "Contest of Portraits", Paris, France;
1977 - The National Exhibition Romanian Peasants, "Dalles" Art Gallery, București, România;
1979 - Romanian Sculpture Exhibition, Sofia, Bulgaria;
- Arts and crafts, Plovdiv, Bulgaria;
1980 - 2050 Years From the Establishment of the Kingdom of Dacia, The National Museum of Art of Romania, București, România;
1981 - Mother and Child, "Dalles" Art Gallery, București, România;
- Sculpture and Tapestry, itinerant exhibition, Berlin, Germany;
1982 - "Dalles" Art Gallery, București, România;
1984 - Romanian Art Exhibition, Jerusalem, Israel.
Sculpture Symposiums:
1972 - Măgura, Buzău, România;
1977 - Muzeul de Sculptură, Burgàs, Bulgaria;
1979 - Măgura, Buzău, România;
1980 - Măgura, Buzău, România;
1988 - Săliște, Sibiu, România;
2003, 2004, 2006 - International Art Symposium, Blaj, Alba, România;
2006 - Cogealac, Constanța, România.
Monumental sculptures:
1972 - Vasile Lucaciu, bust, Oradea, Bihor, România;
- Heroica, Măgura, Buzău, România;
1980 - Burebista, Măgura, Buzău, România;
1983 - Mircea Eliade, portret, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;
1984 - Gheorghe Lazăr, monument, Sibiu, România;
1989 - Mircea cel Bătrân, The National Military Museum, București, România;
1991 - Heroes Monument, Săveni, Botoșani, România;
- Dan Gavriliu and Aurel Denischi, busts, University Emergency Hospital, Bucureşti, România;
1993 - Lucian Blaga, monument, Theoretical High School "Lucian Blaga", București, România;
- Onisifor Ghibu, The National Library of Moldova, Chişinău, Republic of Moldova;
- Martyrs' Monument, Maramureș, România;
1996 - Glory to the Romanian Soldier, Cluj-Napoca, România;
1997 - The Infantry Monument, București, România;
2000 - Gheorghe D. Anghel, bust, "Pasărea" Monastery, Brănești, Ilfov, România;
2010 - D. D. Roșca, bust, Săliște, Sibiu, România;
2013 - Avram Iancu, bust, Sibiu, România.
Awards and Prizes:
1977 - International Prize for The Sun Time / Timpul soarelui, monumental sculpture in Burgàs, Bulgaria;
1992 - Certificate of Inclusion in "The International Who’s Who of Intellectuals", International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, UK;
1992 - 1993, 1997 - He was declared International Man of the Year by the International Biographical Centre in Cambridge, UK;
1994 - "Medal for the efforts towards the spiritual enrichment of the International Community", from the International Circle of the Accomplished People, having its headquarters in North Carolina, California, USA;
1996 - Awarded with the title "Honorary Citizen of Cluj-Napoca", România;
*Solo Exhibitions: 2010 - Râmnicu Vâlcea, România.
**Group Exhibitions: from 1969 - he participates in the official exhibitions organised in Romania; 2010 - Sibiu, România; 2012 - Râmnicu Vâlcea, România.
Barbosa, Octavian, Dicționarul artiștilor români contemporani, Editura Meridiane, București, 1976.
Dicționarul monumentelor anilor de luptă și jertfă, Editura Militară, București, 1996.
Florea, Vasile, Lăptoiu, Negoiță, Dicționarul monumentelor anilor de luptă și jertfă, vol. VII, Editura ARC 2000, București, 1996.
Fundația Culturală META, Un secol de sculptură românească. Dicționar A-D, Colecția SINTEZE, Editura META, 2001, pp. 20 - 21.
Prut, Constantin, Dicționar de artă modernă, Editura Albatros, București, 1982.
International Who’s Who Intellectuals, Cambridge, Marea Britanie.
Sculputure Radu Aftenie Artbook & Visual Poetry 77.
Surse web:
http://romania-on-line.net/whoswho/AftenieRadu.htm