ABOUT
“There are certain moments, caught and held, that bring home to us more effectively than the most learned exegesis how true it is that the art of paintings is neither challenging nor anathema, but annunciation. Joy and hope - Berea art is their harbinger and their synonym.“
Pierre Cabanne, critic and author of several art books
"Berea was undoubtedly the ambassador of his country's art in the world. The warm tones of his canvases with flowers, fruits, and home interiors, his Tuscan, Mediterranean, and Californian landscapes, his portraits inspired by beautiful women and stars of politics and art - from Churchill and Dali, to Cocteau and Picasso, from Sinatra to Ginger Rogers, from Pillat to Gafencu - make the painter of Moldovan origin a personality that, now, we recover to gain national heritage.
Dimitrie Berea, who is exhibited in prestigious galleries in Paris, London, and New York, is known today - more than seventy years after his expatriation - by the public of his native country through the efforts of Mihai Săndulescu, whom I congratulate for his intellectual approach."
Acad. Razvan Theodorescu, VP of the Romanian Academy of Sciences, art critic, and professor of arts
Dimitrie Berea
1908 - 1975
Berea
Early years
1908
Dimitrie Berea was born in Bacau, Romania on November 2nd. His mother was a painter, his father was a lawyer.
1927-1932
Student at the Academy of Architecture, Bucharest.
1934
The Prize of Bucharest’s Official Salon, where his works have hung regularly since 1928, is awarded to his portrait of Mlle. L.S. The painting was purchased by the City Pinacoteque. First one-man show at Bucharest’s Dalles Gallery.
1937-1942
Leaves on invitation for Rome, with a special bursary from the Italian government. Studies and graduates the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, while exhibiting and being awarded with several prizes.
Berea @
Bernheim Jeune Gallery
1948-1960
Exhibitions held at Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, round the portrait of Leon-Paul Fargues - “Visages de Paris”; Galerie Lanmark, “Montmartre Landscapes”; and Fine Arts Gallery of Geneva.
The exhibition “Bonnard, Vuillard, Berea,” allows Berea to view his works side by side with those of his masters.
“Berea’s flowers” and “Journeys and landscapes” together with Bonnard and Vuillard.
“A Hundred Pictures by Berea,” at M.M.J.H. Bernheim-Jeune, marked by a commemorative booklet with a reproduction in facsimile of a handwritten “profession of faith” by the artist. Official meeting with the Prince and Princess of Monaco in Berne. The occasion is the ceremony at which Prince Rainer presents the President acquired by the Principality.
Berea
US experience
1961
Invited to exhibit at Monte-Carlo, Galerie Rauch. Berea receives the Grand-Prix, hors concours, of the International Salon of Modern Art, Paris. Exhibition at Acquavella Gallery, New York.
1964
Inauguration of his great mural: “Hommage a Paris” triptych which represents the monumental symbols of the “Paris Universal Exhibitions”: Eiffel Tower, Alexander III-rd Bridge and the Grand Palais at the Club of The Top of the Fair, New York.
Exhibition at Stephen Silagy Galleries, Los Angeles - ”Rcent works”.
1965
Exhibition at the DeYoung Museum, San Francisco.
1966
Exhibition Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco.
1967
Exhibition Palm Beach Gallery, Palm Beach.
1973
Exhibition Poinciana Gallery, Palm Beach and Service Culturel - Ambassade de France, New York. Major exhibition at The Eric Galleries, New York.
1975
Dimitrie Berea dies in Paris of cancer.
1943
Participates to war in Crimea. Becomes the director of the Aman Museum in Bucharest until November 1944. Exhibition at the Kretzulescu Gallery’s Caminul Artei during January 24 – February 14, Bucharest.
1944 - 1945
Exhibitions held at Caminul Artei, Bucharest, Romania.
1946
Leaves Romania for good. Returns to Paris for the exhibition dedicated to Marie Fontaine-Desjardins at the Galerie Allard.
1947
Exhibitions at the Athenee, Geneva and at Chichio Haller’s, Zurich. Meeting with Leon Paul Fargues, Lucien Fabre, Alain Bedel and Gerard Bauer of whom the artist paints their portraits.
Berea &
The British vibe
1953
Invited by the British Government, Berea shows canvasses inspired by London decorated for the Coronation, at Tooth & Son, London.
1954
At the O’Hana Gallery, London, an exhibition, “Visions de France et d’Angleterre,” is opened by the Duchess of Kent. Berea meets Winston Churchill at 10 Downing Street, a political group having given the Premier one of his major works for an 80th birthday present. Exhibitions at Casino Gallery, Vichy and at the Edinburgh Festival, Whystock & Reid’s.
1963
Double exhibition - Paris and London. Recent works. Seven pictures of “London during the Coronation”, a gift from Berea to the nation, are placed on exhibition at Guildhall.
Exhibits at Durand-Ruel Gallery (Paris).
Berea
Legacy
1990
Retrospective Exhibition of the Berea collection at Phillips Fine Art Auctioneers, New York.
1991
Major Museum Retrospective at the Musee de Villefranche, France. Exhibition of selected works from 1941 to 1970, Ergane Gallery, New York.
2002-2003
Berea’s wife donated a significant part of paintings to Berea College, Kentucky, USA.
2009
Exhibition of selected works from Romanian private collections, Palatul Sutu, Bucharest, Romania. The exhibition was organized in collaboration with the Society of Art Collectors from Romania.
2016
Mihai Sandulescu - art collector, published the first complete biography of the artist, containing images provided by Berea College, RoGallery NY and private collectors. During the next years, Mihai managed to bring to the Romanian public, Berea life and work, assisted by mass media.
2019
Mihai Sandulescu organizes a retrospective exhibition with works from private collections at the Romanian Academy of Sciences, Bucharest.
2021
Mihai Sandulescu publishes a new book Dimitrie Berea and his master Pierre Bonnard.