Nr. 4 (21) anul VI / octombrie-decembrie 2008 - ROMDIDAC

during the nineteenth century and the main source for the national budget
was the export of cereals. The entire rural environment was exhibited at the
world’s fairs: models of peasants’ houses from different provinces, costumes,
and ethnographical objects. At the 1889 Paris World’s Fair, the Romanian
authorities built a wooden inn, decorated with folk carpets, and pottery, where
customers could try Romanian drinks and food. In 1900, the pavilion was
designed as a piece of Romanian-Byzantine architecture which reminded the
visitors that Romania had a primarily orthodox population. Some of Queen
Elizabeth’s artifacts were also exhibited on that occasion. Her pen name,
Carmen Sylva, drew attention to the Roman heritage of the Romanians and
to the Latinity of the Romanian language. It was the 1937 pavilion built for
the Berlin fair, the one which emphasized a religious message and historical
symbols in a combination intended to suggest sweeping economical changes
and the vital, organic energies of the people. It is important to mention that
Romania was awarded 236 distinctions, mostly for the success of presenting
such a convincing synthesis between the traditional culture and the modern
civilization. The direct impact of official Romanian culture on the Americans
was during the New York fair in 1939 when Romanian House simulated a
rural orthodox monastery. What mostly impressed the American public was
authentic folk culture:
Within the pavilion were displays of Romanian textiles, ceramics,
rugs, furniture, painting, and sculpture, used primarily as a setting for a
Romanian restaurant serving food prepared by chefs from Bucharest to
the accompaniment of Gypsy violins. 6
Henri Matisse’s Romanian Blouse Series
The Romanian folk costume had become so fashionable in Paris during
the 1920s because the Queen of Romania insisted on wearing it, that Henri
Matisse started collecting Romanian blouses alongside with other exotic
textiles from Africa, India, and the Middle East. It is also said that Constantin
Brâncu[i, the famous avant-garde sculptor, wore peasant clothing and
elaborated on its geometrical motifs in his abstract art.
From 1936 to 1942, Matisse drew and painted several versions of the
Romanian blouse, using professional models. They posed as if they were to
illustrate a fashion magazine in which the garment is more important than the
model. Unlike other series in which exotic clothing are depicted, the Romanian
blouse series focuses more on the blouse itself.
Henri Matisse, Romanian Blouse, 1940
The portraits combine different decorations
with different postures: the meditative posture
is matched with the green blouse with floral
motifs on its sleeves in The Green Romanian
Blouse (1939); the recumbent position goes
with the geometrical angular patterns in The
Dream (1940). 7 The drawings from 1936, 1939,
and 1942 display the same awareness of the
models of being admiringly looked upon and
consequently they expose their sensuality
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