On April 27,  Romania Levant Association (RLA) celebrated 130 years since the birth of Nicolae Tonitza and the 21st anniversary of World Book Day.

The World Book Day is an international event organized by UNESCO and it was celebrated for the first time in 1995, on April 23rd, the date being chosen as a way to honor Miguel de Cervantes who died on this date in 1616.

Nicolae Tonitza (1886 – 1940) was a Romanian painter, engraver, lithographer, journalist and art critic who got his inspiration from Post-impressionism and Expressionism and who had a major role in introducing the modernist guidelines to local art.

The children of the Romanian community made a presentation of Tonitza’s life and works, most of which are serene in tones in contrast with those expressing his involvement in social issues: “Northern Dobruja”, “Seaside”, “1922 cartoon”. The portraits of clowns, young women and children represent big part of his work.

Vanessa Dagher, an active member of RLA, a smart and ambitious young lady,who likes to write, play the piano, dance ballet and draw, was very impressed by the so-called “Tonitza eyes”, both point-shaped and expressive, in “Portrait of a child” (1926). This determined her to try to reproduce this famous painting to see if she could transmit the same message as Tonitza. In the video attached you can watch Vanessa explaining her choice.

“This project is financed with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Department of Policies for the Relation with Romanians Abroad”.