Corneliu Petrescu

Corneliu Petrescu was a Romanian painter with an unconventional path: born in 1924 in Slănic, Prahova County, he began his professional life in medicine, dedicating himself to endocrinology research — and only later to fine arts, around the age of 40–50. After deciding to focus on painting, he adopted a personal, self-taught approach, influenced by Byzantine art, icons, frescoes, and also by a modern sensibility.

His work includes pieces in various techniques: oil, mixed-media, collage, gold leaf work, and other experimental approaches. His themes are rich: portraits, still lifes, landscapes, compositions with religious motifs or interior settings, but what distinguishes him is the dreamlike atmosphere, pictorial sensitivity, and use of decorative elements (gold leaf, reliefs) that evoke sacred spaces. Stylistically, Petrescu nurtured a painting that did not aspire to strict realism, but to a visual meditation — objects, scenes, and characters appear in an intensely personal and metaphorical pictorial register.

His career also involved a form of resistance during the communist regime in Romania: although he did not become an icon of official art, his works were recognized and collected in several international circles, which facilitated visibility beyond borders. Today, Corneliu Petrescu is appreciated for his contribution to modern Romanian art, as a singular creator who combined life experience, Byzantine visual culture, and freedom of expression to produce a work of discreet and authentic lyrical power.