Temporary Exhibitions
The remarkable talent and boundless imagination of painter Theodor Kiriakoff-Suruceanu (1900–1958) were recognized early on, both by his mentor, Auguste Baillayre, and by the discerning press of the time.
The Bucharest magazine Rampa, dedicated to theatre, music, art, and literature, wrote about the quality of the set designs created for the National Theatre in Chișinău, where three artists of the era worked side by side — a master and his two apprentices: Theodor Kiriakoff-Suruceanu and Boris Nesvedov. Each received a letter of appreciation from the theatre’s management, and Kiriakoff-Suruceanu was praised as follows:
> "We are proud to count you among our most important collaborators and we salute your success in further distinguishing yourself, being the first to win the competition for the decoration of the Timișoara Theatre."
It was the beginning of a rich, tumultuous career, filled with events and numerous travels.
In 1922, Kiriakoff-Suruceanu held his first solo exhibition. Archival photographs of that show in Chișinău reveal the quality and maturity of his work even then. They demonstrate his excellence in drawing, his mastery of graphic techniques, and his ability to create unmistakable, instantly recognizable images with minimal means — a distinctive style that would become his signature.
We can say that this artist, through sheer talent, forged his own manner of expression and the unmistakable mark of an authentic creator.
From the very start of his career, he demonstrated a remarkable ability in the art of stage design, working alongside director Aurel Ion Maican, a well-known and highly sought-after figure in the interwar period. His connection to the theatrical space was inherited from his mentor, Auguste Baillayre.
This commemorative exhibition brings back to light the most fruitful aspect of Theodor Kiriakoff-Suruceanu’s artistic activity — set design for theatre and opera — a field in which he excelled, both in Romania and on the European stage.
His artistic life can be divided into two main periods: the years before 1940, and nearly two decades up until his sudden death in Bucharest in 1958. For decades after his passing in the prime of his life, his graphic and pictorial work was thought to be almost lost, known only through what was preserved in museums, a few private collections, and his work as an illustrator.
But as Bulgakov wrote, “manuscripts don’t burn” — a phrase that took on renewed meaning when an important body of his work was discovered in the Bucharest collection of Cristian-Ioan Ștefănescu. From this significant trove (a carefully curated selection!), together with works in the collection of the National Museum of Art of Moldova, our perception and understanding of his oeuvre is about to be decisively enriched and transformed.
Vladimir Bulat
